But no top NC leader “seems keen on reforming the party in terms of ideology and organiza­tional structures,” says Puranjan Acharya, a political analyst who closely follows the NC’s internal dynamics. “They only want to appoint their near and dear ones in key posts to strengthen their hold.” As in the NCP, so in the NC.

 Race to the bottom

 Both the ruling Nepal Communist Party and the main opposition Nepali Congress are beset by troubling internal disputes that don’t augur well for the two parties or for the country

Power tussles continue to hinder unity of the ruling communist party

 On the first anniversary of the formal merger between the CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist), intra-party rift in the uni­fied Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has further widened as rival fac­tions grapple to cement their hold.

Due to the tussle between the three main party factions—led by Prime Minister and Co-chair­man KP Sharma Oli, senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal and Co-chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ respectively—press­ing unification issues are yet to be resolved. Other senior leaders such as former Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, Bam Dev Gau­tam and Narayan Kaji Shrestha are also displeased at what they see as their systematic sidelining.

The likes of Yogesh Bhattarai and Ghanashyam Bhusal are also publicly criticizing party leader­ship for its supposed failure to maintain internal democracy. But there is essentially a three-way competition among Oli, Dahal and Nepal as other leaders do not have much hold in party structures to challenge them ahead of the par­ty’s next General Convention.

According to insiders, Oli wants to maintain the status quo to retain his hold. “Out of 45 standing com­mittee members, 13 are hardcore Oli supporters who are either in government or in top party posi­tions. Oli does not want to change this favorable setup,” says a senior NCP leader, requesting anonym­ity. “Right now PM Oli’s only goal is to keep Dahal happy so as to forestall any problem in govern­ment functioning,” says the leader. There is also a lack of coordina­tion between the party and the government. Further, Oli wants to weaken other factions by picking leaders close to him in district- and local-level structures.

Now, it seems that there is con­vergence of mind between Oli and Dahal on party- and govern­ment-related issues. Dahal’s first plan is to gradually amass power both within the government as well as in the party by appeasing Oli. So he supports all of Oli’s deci­sions without consulting other party members, says a leader. However, the real test of Oli-Dahal bonhomie will come only after a year and a half because there has been a ‘gentleman’s understand­ing’ between the two leaders to share power after two and a half years of government formation. Dahal will then seek the post of either party chairman or prime minister, say leaders.

 Other senior NCP leaders are also displeased at what they see as their systematic sidelining

 According to insiders, Oli wants to maintain the status quo to retain his hold

Another game Dahal is playing, according to leaders, is creating distance between Oli and Madhav Nepal. “When Dahal meets Nepal he talks about Oli’s monopoly and when he meets Oli he advises him to be firm and bold,” says a senior leader close to Nepal. To take over party leadership or government, Dahal needs either complete sup­port of the Oli faction or support from the leaders of both the Nepal and Oli factions.

The Madhav Kumar Nepal-led faction, however, is struggling to keep its strength intact. This fac­tion believes it will benefit from possible friction between Oli and Dahal. It complains that leaders close to it are deliberately side­lined in party structures, in selec­tion of ministers and in other polit­ical appointments. When the par­ty’s Standing Committee picked the province in-charge, assistant in-charge, chairman and secre­tary, Nepal had registered a note of dissent.

So, the only priority of the Nepal faction is to keep its posi­tion intact because there are fears that Oli and Dahal could poach its leaders. This faction is closely watching the unfolding Oli-Dahal dynamics. Of the 77 districts, the Nepal faction commands almost half the districts committees. A leader from the Nepal side says his faction is no threat to Oli and the real threat to the prime minister comes from Dahal.

NCP Central Committee member Bishnu Rijal says discussions are underway to manage differences but there is still a lot of uncer­tainty. “The main problem is that top leaders accepted big respon­sibilities after party unification but then failed to carry out those responsibilities,” he says. “Due to mismanagement, even the prov­ince-level committees are not func­tioning effectively,” he adds.

 The ‘Grand Old Party’ in no less of a mess

 The main opposition Nepali Congress, which is supposed to question the government and hold it to account, is also mired in internal disputes.

The seed of animosity among party President Sher Bahadur Deuba, senior leader Ram Chandra Poudel and Krishna Prasad Sitaula was sown after the party’s humiliating defeat in the 2017 parliamentary elections. And differences between them con­tinue to grow. The rift, according to leaders, has serious repercussions. Soon after the elections, both the Poudel and Situala camps had urged Deuba to take moral responsibility for the defeat and step down. Deuba did not pay heed.

First, the party has failed to play the role of effective opposition in the parliament. There are no dis­cussions and preparations in the party about taking a uniform and consistent position on key national issues. Leaders cite certain examples to highlight the party’s chaotic state. When the government struck the 11-point agreement with secessionist leader CK Raut, NC Spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma and party President Deuba welcomed it. The very next day, the party changed its position and there were separate versions coming from top leaders.

Similarly, when the government decided to ban the activities of the Biplab-led Maoist party, NC Presi­dent, while speaking with reporters in Biratnagar, welcomed the deci­sion. Later, the party urged the gov­ernment to resolve the issue through talks. These two instances clearly show that the party is divided and struggling to make its stand clear on key national issues.

Second, as the largest opposition party, the NC has failed to bring other parties outside the government together to exert pressure on the government to correct its mistakes. There is no coordination among party leaders on how to play an effec­tive role in the parliament. Third, strengthening the party organization is the need of the hour but that is not happening; instead the rift at the top is percolating to the grassroots level, affecting party functioning.

Verbal wars between top lead­ers have escalated too. A few weeks ago, party President Deuba publicly said that Shekhar Koirala does not have ‘any status’ in the party, warning him not to speak against him. In response, Koirala said he was born in a family with solid political culture and would not stoop to Deuba’s level.

“None of its top leaders seems keen on reforming the party in terms of ideology and organiza­tional structures. They only want to appoint their near and dear ones in key posts to strengthen their hold,” says Puranjan Acharya, political ana­lyst who closely follows the NC’s internal dynamics.

There was a tussle among rival factions over the appointment of the party’s disciplinary committee. Lately, disputes have surfaced over appointments to the Kendriya Karya Sampadan Samiti, a party committee entrusted with vital decisions in the absence of the Central Working Com­mittee. After a long debate, Deuba, Poudel and Situala have reached a tentative agreement.

With the continuing tussle among the three leaders, another senior leader Shekhar Koirala is busy shoring up support for his own likely bid for party president ahead of the next general convention. Of late, leaders from the Koirala family— Shekhar, Shashank and Sujata—are coming closer.

Party disputes do not end here. There is growing dissatisfaction among district presidents as well. In the third week of December last year, the party’s Mahasamiti meeting was held in order to resolve intra-party disputes and amend the party statute to adapt to a federal setup.

Among others, the Mahasamiti meeting endorsed a provision that all party leaders should be elected from the grassroots level for them to be eligible as general convention representatives. However, the Cen­tral Working Committee rejected the decision and endorsed a provi­sion whereby CWC members would nominate themselves as convention representatives. The CWC meeting took the decision on a majority basis and the Poudel faction registered a note of dissent.

Around four dozen district presi­dents have been putting pressure on party leadership to correct this erro­neous decision. “We will launch a signature campaign in all 77 districts to call for a special general conven­tion if our demands are not fulfilled,” says NC leader Madhu Acharya who is coordinating the gathering of the NC district presidents. “We demand inner-party democracy be main­tained and all leaders face party elections to become convention rep­resentatives,” says Acharya.

Within one year, the party will have to conduct its 14th general convention to elect new leadership. Deuba is fighting for party president again. Sitaula and Poudel are already in the race. Of late, Shekhar and other members of the Koirala family also seem interested. So there is a sort of competition to discredit each other ahead of the general conven­tion, which is unlikely to stop in the coming days.