Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been leading the party for more than three decades even as the Maoist movement underwent much transformation in the period.

Trying to justify his leadership over the long haul, Dahal said during the eighth National Convention of the party that he had decided to steer the party for another term as his colleagues so requested.

But months after he was unanimously elected chairman, Maoist leaders have started questioning his decisions claiming that he took decisions keeping himself at the centre.

Three senior leaders who wholly supported Dahal—Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Dev Prasad Gurung and Lila Mani Pokhrel—have registered a note of dissent on the party’s decision to endorse the Millennium Challenge Corporation compact with an interpretative declaration while a section of the party led by Narayan Kaji Shrestha has taken great exception to it.

Addressing the Central Committee meeting on Friday, Shrestha questioned Dahal for having taken self-serving decisions. Dahal’s unsteady stance on the MCC has drawn criticism from several quarters, so much so that some called him a “double-dealer”.

Even within the party, members have similar views of their chairman though many have not spoken out.

“I don’t think Dahal’s decision was challenged by so many leaders in the past,” said a Central Committee member seeking anonymity fearing retribution. “All our party’s decisions used to be endorsed unanimously but this time Dahal’s decision could be passed by a simple majority since many leaders oppose it.”

Two lawmakers of the party—Anjana Bishankhe and Girirajmani Pokhrel—had crossed the floor to vote against the MCC while half a dozen lawmakers boycotted the vote, violating the party’s whip.

Insiders say lawmakers including party spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Rekha Sharma, Jayapuri Gharti, Yasoda Subedi and Dharmashila Chapagain had left the meeting to avoid a vote.

“These all clearly show that Dahal has become weaker in the party not because of anyone but due to his own decisions,” said another Central Committee member. “Party cadres and leaders have been publicly saying that endorsing the MCC was a betrayal to the nation.”

According to the leader, Dahal not only damaged his nationalist image but also that of the party, making it difficult for party workers to “show their face in public”.

Voicing discontent over Shrestha’s statement, Dahal had suggested in his press meet soon after the MCC’s passage that he was free to leave the party. This irked the Shrestha faction. Dahal later met Shrestha several times to convince him not to make any move for departure.

The statement made during the press meet further exposed Dahal, said another Central member close to Shrestha.

Dahal and Shrestha have been meeting to discuss the MCC row, said Jeevan Gautam, a central member. “A concrete decision could come after their meeting scheduled for 8am Sunday before the Central Committee meeting starts.”

One of the major issues the party leaders have put forth is Dahal’s single-handedness in the decisions, especially on crucial issues like the MCC which have lasting impact not only on the party but also the nation.

The decision of the national convention can only be changed by the Central Committee in some exceptional cases, said Gautam. “But the issue of MCC was not even discussed in the party’s newly elected Central Committee.”

Though the majority of delegates to the eighth National Convention that concluded in Kathmandu on January 2 had proposed that the MCC should be rejected, Dahal had endorsed his proposal that it should be passed only after amending the disputed provisions. The US grant had courted controversy in Nepal chiefly for the need for its parliamentary ratification and some provisions that gave it primacy over conflicting national laws.

Dahal had decided, through a Parliamentary Party meeting, on February 16 that the party would pull out of the government if the MCC was pushed through Parliament. However, the February 19 extended meeting of the party’s central office that included former Standing Committee members took the decision to endorse it with the interpretative declaration.

“Not only the public, Dahal’s vacillating position especially on the MCC has been questioned by party leaders,” said Anjana Bishankhe, a lawmaker and Central Committee member. “I think the issue of MCC will remain in the party as a deep scar.”