Intra-party conflict complicates Nepal's peace process
Yuba Nath Lamsal
Internal imbroglio in the political parties has taken an ugly turn, pushing the agenda of peace and constitution writing to the back seat. The peace process has hit a snag, not because of the differences among the parties but because of internal wrangling within the parties. All the major parties at present are occupied in factional fighting, driven by the lust for party power and state power, which has a serious impact on the country’s ongoing political process.
If we look closely at the unfolding developments in the parties, it becomes clear that the political parties are not serious and sincere to the promises made to the people. As a result, public trust on the parties and leaders has waned, bringing uncertainty to the peace process.
Each and every political party is in a mess. Factional fighting has intensified so bitterly that leaders and workers of one faction are not even on talking terms with those from the rival camps let alone working together. The bigger the party, the more serious and bitter the factional fighting. Some political parties have even split as a result. Hence, there are today 31 political parties in the Constituent Assembly, up from an earlier 22. Some more parties may be on the verge of splitting.
The Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, which was the fourth largest party in the Constituent Assembly in the beginning, has split into three groups. The Sadbhavana Party that won nine seats in the Constituent Assembly is now divided into two, with Anil Kumar Jha forming a new splinter group called the Federal Sadbhavana Party with four CA members. The Terai Madhes Loktantrik Party, too, has divided, and two separate parties have been registered in the Constituent Assembly.
Although the Madhesi parties are the hardest hit by the ongoing splinter politics, the other parties are not free from this malady. The Communist Party of Nepal (M-L) led by C.P. Mainali also could not remain a unified party and formally split a few months ago, with four disgruntled CA members forming a separate party.
The country’s three major parties are also suffering from this factional fighting. Despite fierce internal bickering, they have, however, remained unified. These parties had experienced the pain of splitting in the past, which has contributed to keeping them unified despite the sharp differences and ugly squabbles internally. However, how long the rival groups will stay together, only time will tell.
There are already different parties within a party and parallel committees and parallel plans and programmes in the same party. They are one party in theory because they have not formally announced a split, but in practice they are divorced.
The UCPN-Maoist is the largest party based on its strength in the Constituent Assembly. Factional fighting in the UCPN-Maoist is the most talked about present. The fate of the peace process and constitution writing is closely linked with the decisions and developments in the UCPN-Maoist. The pungent rivalry and factional fighting in the country’s largest party has sent confusing signals to the other political parties, civil society and the international community that have been closely and keenly watching Nepal’s political developments over the last five years.
There are three distinct groups in the UCPN-Maoist, with each carrying its own agenda on issues related to the peace process. The conformist group, led by party Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal or Prachanda, had the agenda of peace and constitution endorsed by majority of the central committee members, to which Mohan Kiran Baidya registered his note of dissent. Since this was approved by the central committee, the agenda of peace and constitution has become the official line of the party. Dr Baburam Bhattarai’s pragmatist faction also backed Prachanda’s proposal of peace and constitution.
Dr. Bhattarai right from the Palungtar plenum had been constantly and consistently pushing for the agenda of peace and constitution. During the Palungtar plenum, Prachanda and the other vice-chairman, Mohan Vaidya or Kiran, had stood together on the party’s two-pronged strategy - pushing for the completion of the constitution writing and peace process and making preparations for a mass insurrection for radical change. However, this alliance lived short as Prachanda came up with a new proposal of peace and constitution, which is akin to what Baburam had earlier advocated.
Prachanda’s new move brought Baburam Bhattarai closer whereas Kiran was pushed away from the chairman’s camp.
But surprisingly, a new kind of alliance and equation has emerged in the Maoist party. Despite his closeness with the chairman on the political line, Bhattarai has joined hands with senior Vice-chairman Kiran on several issues including organisational responsibilities of the senior party leaders. The Kiran-Bhattarai alliance has demanded that senior party leaders be given appropriate organisational responsibility, that the party be run on the basis of collective leadership and that the principle of democratic centralism be strictly implemented.
Another Vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha and the party’s general secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal’ have joined this alliance which has changed the equation in the UCPN-Maoist.
The intra-party imbroglio in the UCPN-Maoist is now being dubbed as a struggle for power and position. But fundamentally, this is am ideological and political struggle. Supporters of the party chairman have termed the alliance against Prachanda as a move to weaken the party and its principal leadership. However, supporters of the new alliance deny the allegation and term it as a line struggle to clean up and purify the party and transform the leadership.
Since the UCPN-Maoist party is undergoing a big ideological and political debate, it has a direct bearing on peace and the constitution-writing process. Although all the factions in the UCPN-Maoist have emphasised on the need to complete the peace process and write the new constitution, their approaches are different. As a result, the party has not been able to come up with a uniform and clear-cut agenda and approach. As a result, the other parties have got an excuse to blame the UCPN-Maoist and derail the peace and constitution-writing process.
In fact, the Constituent Assembly, federalism, inclusive democracy and republican set up are the Maoist agenda, which can be formally institutionalised only when the new constitution incorporates these issues. The other parties are not comfortable with these issues because they had initially opposed the Constituent Assembly, a new constitution, federalism and republican set up. Even now the other parties have not wholeheartedly embraced these issues but were forced to do so only due to popular sentiment.
If the Maoists are not able to carry the agenda of peace and constitution to a logical conclusion, the other parties would find suitable ground for derailing the entire exercises made over the last five years.
Internal wrangling is a permanent feature in all the parties, including the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML. But their internal problems and stance do not have much impact on Nepal’s national politics at the moment. Thus, the conflict and problems in the UCPN-Maoist must be managed at the earliest on political and ideological grounds instead of seeking temporary patch ups.
As a revolutionary party, the UCPN-Maoist may definitely not be content with a constitution that has been greatly compromised. But the new constitution should be made the point of departure for further changes. Under no pretext should the constitution and the peace process be delayed and derailed. There are elements both at home and abroad that want to abort the ongoing political process and instigate fresh conflict and crisis from which they could reap political benefit.
A conspiracy is already afoot to dissolve the Constituent Assembly. Against this backdrop, the Maoists and other political parties that want change, peace and stability in the country must be cautious against such reactionary conspiracies and not allow their internal conflict to flare up and disrupt the agenda of peace and constitution.
Internal imbroglio in the political parties has taken an ugly turn, pushing the agenda of peace and constitution writing to the back seat. The peace process has hit a snag, not because of the differences among the parties but because of internal wrangling within the parties. All the major parties at present are occupied in factional fighting, driven by the lust for party power and state power, which has a serious impact on the country’s ongoing political process.
If we look closely at the unfolding developments in the parties, it becomes clear that the political parties are not serious and sincere to the promises made to the people. As a result, public trust on the parties and leaders has waned, bringing uncertainty to the peace process.
Each and every political party is in a mess. Factional fighting has intensified so bitterly that leaders and workers of one faction are not even on talking terms with those from the rival camps let alone working together. The bigger the party, the more serious and bitter the factional fighting. Some political parties have even split as a result. Hence, there are today 31 political parties in the Constituent Assembly, up from an earlier 22. Some more parties may be on the verge of splitting.
The Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, which was the fourth largest party in the Constituent Assembly in the beginning, has split into three groups. The Sadbhavana Party that won nine seats in the Constituent Assembly is now divided into two, with Anil Kumar Jha forming a new splinter group called the Federal Sadbhavana Party with four CA members. The Terai Madhes Loktantrik Party, too, has divided, and two separate parties have been registered in the Constituent Assembly.
Although the Madhesi parties are the hardest hit by the ongoing splinter politics, the other parties are not free from this malady. The Communist Party of Nepal (M-L) led by C.P. Mainali also could not remain a unified party and formally split a few months ago, with four disgruntled CA members forming a separate party.
The country’s three major parties are also suffering from this factional fighting. Despite fierce internal bickering, they have, however, remained unified. These parties had experienced the pain of splitting in the past, which has contributed to keeping them unified despite the sharp differences and ugly squabbles internally. However, how long the rival groups will stay together, only time will tell.
There are already different parties within a party and parallel committees and parallel plans and programmes in the same party. They are one party in theory because they have not formally announced a split, but in practice they are divorced.
The UCPN-Maoist is the largest party based on its strength in the Constituent Assembly. Factional fighting in the UCPN-Maoist is the most talked about present. The fate of the peace process and constitution writing is closely linked with the decisions and developments in the UCPN-Maoist. The pungent rivalry and factional fighting in the country’s largest party has sent confusing signals to the other political parties, civil society and the international community that have been closely and keenly watching Nepal’s political developments over the last five years.
There are three distinct groups in the UCPN-Maoist, with each carrying its own agenda on issues related to the peace process. The conformist group, led by party Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal or Prachanda, had the agenda of peace and constitution endorsed by majority of the central committee members, to which Mohan Kiran Baidya registered his note of dissent. Since this was approved by the central committee, the agenda of peace and constitution has become the official line of the party. Dr Baburam Bhattarai’s pragmatist faction also backed Prachanda’s proposal of peace and constitution.
Dr. Bhattarai right from the Palungtar plenum had been constantly and consistently pushing for the agenda of peace and constitution. During the Palungtar plenum, Prachanda and the other vice-chairman, Mohan Vaidya or Kiran, had stood together on the party’s two-pronged strategy - pushing for the completion of the constitution writing and peace process and making preparations for a mass insurrection for radical change. However, this alliance lived short as Prachanda came up with a new proposal of peace and constitution, which is akin to what Baburam had earlier advocated.
Prachanda’s new move brought Baburam Bhattarai closer whereas Kiran was pushed away from the chairman’s camp.
But surprisingly, a new kind of alliance and equation has emerged in the Maoist party. Despite his closeness with the chairman on the political line, Bhattarai has joined hands with senior Vice-chairman Kiran on several issues including organisational responsibilities of the senior party leaders. The Kiran-Bhattarai alliance has demanded that senior party leaders be given appropriate organisational responsibility, that the party be run on the basis of collective leadership and that the principle of democratic centralism be strictly implemented.
Another Vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha and the party’s general secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal’ have joined this alliance which has changed the equation in the UCPN-Maoist.
The intra-party imbroglio in the UCPN-Maoist is now being dubbed as a struggle for power and position. But fundamentally, this is am ideological and political struggle. Supporters of the party chairman have termed the alliance against Prachanda as a move to weaken the party and its principal leadership. However, supporters of the new alliance deny the allegation and term it as a line struggle to clean up and purify the party and transform the leadership.
Since the UCPN-Maoist party is undergoing a big ideological and political debate, it has a direct bearing on peace and the constitution-writing process. Although all the factions in the UCPN-Maoist have emphasised on the need to complete the peace process and write the new constitution, their approaches are different. As a result, the party has not been able to come up with a uniform and clear-cut agenda and approach. As a result, the other parties have got an excuse to blame the UCPN-Maoist and derail the peace and constitution-writing process.
In fact, the Constituent Assembly, federalism, inclusive democracy and republican set up are the Maoist agenda, which can be formally institutionalised only when the new constitution incorporates these issues. The other parties are not comfortable with these issues because they had initially opposed the Constituent Assembly, a new constitution, federalism and republican set up. Even now the other parties have not wholeheartedly embraced these issues but were forced to do so only due to popular sentiment.
If the Maoists are not able to carry the agenda of peace and constitution to a logical conclusion, the other parties would find suitable ground for derailing the entire exercises made over the last five years.
Internal wrangling is a permanent feature in all the parties, including the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML. But their internal problems and stance do not have much impact on Nepal’s national politics at the moment. Thus, the conflict and problems in the UCPN-Maoist must be managed at the earliest on political and ideological grounds instead of seeking temporary patch ups.
As a revolutionary party, the UCPN-Maoist may definitely not be content with a constitution that has been greatly compromised. But the new constitution should be made the point of departure for further changes. Under no pretext should the constitution and the peace process be delayed and derailed. There are elements both at home and abroad that want to abort the ongoing political process and instigate fresh conflict and crisis from which they could reap political benefit.
A conspiracy is already afoot to dissolve the Constituent Assembly. Against this backdrop, the Maoists and other political parties that want change, peace and stability in the country must be cautious against such reactionary conspiracies and not allow their internal conflict to flare up and disrupt the agenda of peace and constitution.
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