By Our Reporter
The CPN (Maoist Centre) which has not held its general convention for over eight several years is now holding its 8th general convention in Kathmandu.
Previously, the party had announced to hold a national conference, but at the 11th hour, it converted the national conference into its eighth general convention which was inaugurated on Saturday and will continue till Thursday.
Earlier, the party had held its seventh convention in Hetauda in 2013, and after the spilt in the Nepal Communist Party, created by unifying the CPN-UML and the Maoist Centre in 2017, the former had challenged the validity of the Maoist Centre at the Election Commission for not holding the general convention for over eight years.
The party has also proposed to amend its statute to have multi-office bearers, 15 in total. The amendment proposal presented by leader Dev Gurung has provisioned one chair, one senior vice-chair, six vice-chairs, one general secretary, two deputy general secretaries, three secretaries and one treasurer.
Pushpa Kamal Dahal will surely be reelected chair of the Maoist Centre again. Leaders while addressing the inaugural session and closed session of the convention hinted that no one would challenge Dahal’s leadership in the party.
The endorsement of Dahal’s document by the leaders divided into 25 groups also hinted this, because almost all delegates are said to have agreed on the document tabled by chairman Dahal. However, a few had reportedly raised a question about the document for maintaining a silence on India. Leader Ram Karki has submitted a complementary document to Dahal’s.
Although Dahal is sure to continue as party chairman, it is still uncertain as to who will be given the powerful post of general secretary. Janardan Sharma and Barshaman Pun are the two contestants for the post. But as Pun is receiving treatment in China, the post is likely to go to Sharma.
Amending the statute was essential to give a new lease of life to the Maoist Centre that has lost its support over the years since it swept away the 2008 Constituent Assembly elections. Thereafter, it has fallen to the third-largest party that too because of its swinging alliance either with the Nepali Congress or the CPN-UML. Its base will further diminish if it goes to elections without forging alliance with the NC or UML.
However, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba while addressing the inaugural session of the convention on Saturday said that the present coalition would continue even after the election, which must have come as a big relief to Dahal. Surprisingly, Deuba hailed Dahal as a leader who ushered in a republic set up in the country. Deuba’s speech though pleased Dahal hurt the sentiment of many NC leaders who were tortured by the Maoists in the past. Dahal also gave a balanced speech in the inaugural session which was not attended by CPN-UML chair KP Oli. Impressed by Dahal’s speech former UML leader Bamdev Gautam issued a statement hailing Dahal’s hate-free speech.
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