Controversy, in-fighting breaks out in CPN (Maoist)

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 18 Oct: Controversy and in-fighting has broken out between the three top leaders in the CPN (Maoist) on a party name change as former revolutionaries who fought a bloody people’s war for a republic attempt to adjust to realities of state power to hold on to it.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, who is also party chairman and Dr Babauram Bhattarai have come out openly for a change while organization chief Mohan Baidya Kiran pushes a people’s war to give continuity to the revolution launched 12 years ago.
Over 13,000 persons were killed in both sides of the conflict.
Finance Minister Dr Bhattarai even suggested in the USA communism may be implemented in Nepal only by the coming two generations. indirectly suggesting the Maoists may not even go for a communist state.
Kiran demanded disciplinary action against Bhattarai for revealing the party discussed a name change.
The issue will be debated in the central committee ahead of a national meet.
“Such statement is an act of indiscipline,” Kiran said demanding action against Bhattarai.
Baidya advocates a people’s republic with the proletariat rule arguing a federal democratic republic is ‘not adequate’ because it will be dominated by capitalists: Kiran says there will be competitive politics, rule of law and respect for human rights in a people’s republic.
Prachanda revealed Friday he had suggested a name change two years ago.
“The Maoist suffix will be removed with unification with other communist factions,” Prachanda said.
Unification of the splintered communist movement may only be a dream.
CPN-UML national meet of workers Friday openly came out against Maoists charging the party for attempting to impose extreme leftist rule.
“People have accepted our party as the true communist party. There is no longer a need for a lag,” Bhattarai said.
Prachanda and Bhattarai are clearly attempting to sell Maoist-rule to the West where the finance minister revealed the party was discussing a name change.
CPN-UML faced the same paradox when it was pushed to power in the early 1990’s.
CPN-UML was elected to head a communist government for the first time in the world after emerging as the largest party in the second parliament under the 1990 constitution now thrown to the wastepaper basket in a constitutional coup by an unelected parliament restored by King Gyanendra in April 2005 through a ‘political’ decision—an euphemism for an illegal action.
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