Nepal's largest party holding plenum to settle internal crisis

Nepal's largest party UCPN ( Maoist) has plunged into internal crisis ahead of the second Constituent Assembly (CA) election which will take place on Nov. 19, party leaders said on Saturday. At a time when the party was struggling to form various party committees, Vice Chairman Baburam Bhattarai resigned from his post, further complicating the crisis inside the party. The Party has not formed its various committees such as the office bearer, the standing committee and politburo which were dissolved during the party's seventh general convention held in February due to intra-party rift.The party has called the plenum which is underway in Capital from Friday to settle the dispute. Leaders from across the country have been assembled to bail out the party from the crisis. The 500-member is mulling over various alternatives for the formation of various party committees such as the office bearer, the standing committee, politburo and the central Committee. "From the plenum we will find a solution and the party will go to November 19 election with a united face," party spokesperson Agni Sapkota told Xinhua. Bhattarai, also the former prime minister, resigned from the party post on June 30 which created crisis in the party. The party is failing to settle the disputes regarding the formation of above- mentioned committees as the number of leaders willing to get the promotion inside are too much high. In the plenum, party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda has proposed to keep the post of chairman and degrade other leaders to the status of the Central Committee as temporary arrangements. Prachanda has also proposed holding national convention of the party to settle the organizational row. For Bhattarai, Dahal has proposed the post of senior leader but Bhattarai rejected the offer. Leaders say resolution of intra-party dispute is a must to secure the majority of votes in the November 19 polls. Due to the intra-party rift UCPN (Maoist) suffered a split last year. Bhattarai's decision came at a time when a proposal has been tabled in the Central Committee to impose an age bar within the party, barring leaders from engaging in "active politics" after they attain the age of 65. The proposal prepared by Krishna Bahadur Mahara-led panel states that leaders over 65 should retire from "active politics". Bhattarai and Dahal have five and six years respectively to turn 65. In the seventh extended plenum in Kathmandu held immediately after the party split, Dahal told his deputy Bhattarai to be prepared to take up the leadership of the party.