Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba has been avoiding the central committee meeting fearing that Prime Minister (PM) and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal may be angered due to criticism in NC for vote of confidence to PM Dahal potentially costing the post of president the grand old party.
NC on Thursday postponed the central committee meeting for a third time postponing the one called for January 29 until further notice.
An NC office-bearer told Setopati that Deuba doesn't want to hold central committee meeting anytime soon fearing fierce internal criticism for failing to put the then NC-led ruling coalition in tact and deciding to vote in support of PM Dahal durng the floor test on January 10.
NC has taken important decisions such as giving the vote of confidence to Dahal’s government without holding a central committee meeting. The party’s central members have been criticizing Deuba and other office-bearers for taking important decisions through the central working committee and the office-bearers meeting, which is not recognized by the party's statute.
Deuba will have to face the music for failing to save the coalition and deciding to give vote of confidence to PM Dahal whenever the central committee is convened next but he apparently hopes that landing the post of president for the party would provide him a saving grace.
He, therefore, wants to hold the central committee meeting only after the presidential election fearing that criticism of giving vote of confidence inside the party before the election can anger Dahal who is trying to convince his party to give the post of president to NC in return for the vote of confidence, and can cost the post of president.
Dahal recently even called an all-party meeting at Baluwatar and proposed if national consensus could be forged for constitutional posts but CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli rejected the proposal outright.
UML still suspects that Maoist Center wants to give the post of president to NC in return for the confidence vote to the Dahal government violating the power sharing agreement in the coalition.
"President Deuba believes that Maoists would repay the debt of confidence vote by supporting NC's candidate for president," the NC leader stated. "He, therefore, wants to give a message that NC is united until then. Deuba will be criticized for failing to save the coalition and giving the confidence vote if the meeting were held now."
Deuba has been repeatedly calling NC's current and former office-bearers to his residence in Dhumbarahi recently and stressing on the need to give the message of unity until the presidential election. He has also urged Shekhar Koirala, who recently held a meeting of his faction, to not hold such factional meetings until the election leading to the faction calling off its meeting scheduled for Tuesday.
