The CPN (Maoist Centre) said it would select the party’s office bearers on Thursday, but it could not do so, citing a lack of time as leaders were busy in Parliament. Even on Friday, there was no progress on it.

It has been more than eight months, but the party is struggling to pick its office bearers. The party had said during its eighth general convention, there would be 15 office bearers.

Now, under pressure to “manage” leaders, party chair Dahal is considering increasing the number of office bearers to 21.

Though there was an understanding among major leaders to have 15 office bearers–one-thirds of the 43-member Standing Committee—Dahal, on Friday, proposed to expand the number to 21, which according to party insiders, is an attempt to “manage” leaders.

Though Barsha Man Pun and Janardan Sharma were rumoured to be the top contestants for the post of general secretary, now Dev Gurung is being tipped for the most powerful position after the party chair.

In that case, insiders say, Pun and Sharma will be appointed deputy general secretaries.

Since election is not something the Maoist party believes in, the posts will be filled by Dahal as per his wish.

A Central Committee meeting of the party held on July 7 gave the mandate to Dahal to fill the party committee vacancies as well as appoint office bearers.

Yubaraj Chaulagain, a politburo member of the party, said organisational management—or managing leaders for that matter—has been a major headache as the leadership did not want to hold elections.

“Right from the centre to lower committees, our party’s main headache is the management of leaders,” Chaulagain told the Post. “It seems the chairman wants to make sure that there will not be any grievances among the leaders after selecting the office bearers as failure to heed such concerns which could affect the upcoming polls.”

According to him, elections would have been the best way to select office bearers.

During the general convention, the party envisioned 15 office bearers—one senior vice-chair, six vice-chairs, one general secretary, two deputy general secretaries, three secretaries and one treasurer, besides the chairman.

But now, Dahal has proposed one senior vice-chair, one vice-chair, one general secretary, seven deputy general secretaries, nine secretaries and one treasurer besides the chair.

In this setting, the party will have Narayan Kaji Shrestha as senior vice-chair and Krishna Bahadur Mahara as vice-chair.

Leaders like Haribol Gajurel, Pampha Bhusal, Girirajmani Pokhrel, Chakrapani Khanal and Shakti Basnet, however, are vying for the deputy general secretary posts.

The probable party secretaries could be from among Devendra Poudel, Hitman Shakya, Purna Kumari Subedi, Urmila Aryal, Rekha Sharma, Jayapuri Gharti, Hitraj Pande, Shashi Shrestha, Kamala Roka and Anjana Bishankhe, among others.

In general, communist parties form the politburo with one-third of its Central Committee members; Standing Committee with one-third of its politburo and the party Secretariat or office bearers with one-third of the Standing Committee.

If the party goes for 21 office bearers, Dahal can increase the strength of the Standing Committee to 63 members.

That he is under pressure to “manage” leaders is something Dahal himself does not hide.

On Friday, while addressing the national gathering of Young Communist League, the youth wing of the party, Dahal said there has been competition among leaders for party positions.

“Nowadays [Maoist] leaders are competing for positions…benefits,” Dahal said. “But there is less competition to work hard for the party.”

One additional vice-chair despite having a senior vice-chair and adding the number of secretaries is clearly a measure to “manage” leaders, say insiders, but that won’t address the problem.

As there are many aspirants for office bearer positions, leaders have suggested increasing the number of vice-chairs to accommodate senior leaders by having fewer deputy general secretaries and secretaries.

Insiders say if the party chair chooses Gurung for general secretary, then there will be few leaders left in the party who are senior to Gurung.

Therefore, Dahal has floated the proposal to make only Krishna Bahadur Mahara as the party’s vice-chair.

“All those included in the Standing Committee are eying office bearer positions,” said Khagaraj Bhatta, who was present at Friday’s Standing Committee meeting. “It’s all about managing the leaders which is in itself a complicated task.”

Bhatta, said managing and accommodating leaders is a difficult task for the party chief in any party organisation, not only in the Maoist Centre.

Insiders say Dahal is preparing to appoint office bearers in such a way that he is never challenged in decision-making and Gurung as general secretary suits him best.

But a Standing Committee member said the top leaders are not going to give up their claims for major positions. More than seven leaders—Pampha Bhusal, Haribol Gajurel, Girirajmani Pokhrel and Shakti Basnet besides Gurung, Pun and Sharma—have been eyeing general secretary, the second most powerful position in the party.

Gurung’s appointment as general secretary could create a conflict in the party though.

In 2012, Gurung had parted ways with Dahal and sided with Mohan Baidya, who formed the CPN (Revolutionary Maoist). But he returned to the mother party in 2016. Others who had quit and later returned to the parent party included Pampha Bhusal and Ram Bahadur Thapa. Thapa is currently with the CPN-UML.

But Maoist leaders who have always remained with the party complain that those who betrayed the party by defecting to the Baidya outfit in the past are now enjoying privileges after rejoining the party.

A large chunk of those who had defected to the Baidya outfit returned to the mother party in May 2016. They include Thapa, Gurung, Bhusal (current energy minister), Lekhnath Neupane, and Maheshwar Dahal, among others.

“It’s obvious that all leaders will continue fighting for plum positions until the chairman announces the list,” said Maheshwar Dahal, a politburo member. “Since the chairman has made many promises to many leaders, he is finding it difficult to make good of the promises.”