Nepal Maoists face party wrath over deal

Two top leaders of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (CPN-M) have come in for sharp criticism...

Two top leaders of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (CPN-M) have come in for sharp criticism of the party’s central secretariat for having defied the Central Committee (CC) directive while signing a fresh understanding with the ruling alliance to end the current political deadlock.

“We have not formally reprimnaded party chief Prachanda, but we have taken a serious note of it,” a prominent Maoist leader told The Indian Express, adding “he did not write the note of dissent as directed by CC while accepting the mixed electoral system for the Assembly polls”.

Party’s four ministers had resigned from the Cabinet in September to press party’s demand for 100 per cent proprotational representation system to elect the Constituent Assembly instead of the mixed system of polls provided in the constitution.

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Party’s central committee meeting on Thursday had directed Prachanda to accept the mixed system to facilitate election in April with a slightly enclarged proprotational representation component after “writing the note of dissent”, but he chose not to abide by that when he signed a 22-point agreement with the other six constituents of the ruling alliance. “Our ministers who had resigned earlier will now join the Cabinet under the leadersgip of K B Mahara,” said Baburam Bhattarai, party’s ideologue.

The 22-point understanding reached envisages Nepal being declared a ‘Federal Democratic Republic’ now with the directive to the Constituent Assembly to enforce it. “The date for the Constituent Assembly election will be announced shortly,” Prime Minister G P Koriala announced in his home town of Biratangar on Tuesday.