Maoist CC meet concludes; Dahal is PLA 'supreme commander' again; general convention in January

The three-week long Maoist central committee meeting concluded on Saturday, taking some policy decisions and dividing organisational responsibilities to the central leaders.The central committee has designated party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal as the 'supreme commander' of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Dahal had quit the post after he became Prime Minister of the erstwhile Maoist-led coalition government.Likewise, the Maoist party has decided to hold its general convention in January next year. The venue and the closing date of the general convention, which will begin on January 29, are yet to be fixed.The CC meeting held at the party's central office in Koteshwor also decided to go for multi-post leadership, with Dahal as party chairman, three vice-chairmen, a general secretary and two secretaries. Three senior leaders Mohan Baidya, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and Narayan Kaji Shrestha have been appointed vice-chairmen while Ram Bahadur Thapa has been appointed general secretary. The two secretaries are C.P Gajurel and Post Bahadur Bogati.According to party spokesperson Dina Nath Sharma, the CC has also passed a 15-point code of ethics for the party leaders and cadres. As per the codes, the private properties of central leaders will be kept under the party's ownership.The CC meeting, which passed the party chairman's political report few days earlier, has adopted "people's federal republic" as a slogan. This will also be the immediate political goal of the party.The party also decided to go for direct election of the President of the Federal Republic.Sharma said the CC meeting decided to carry on with the protest movement in the streets and the parliament in favour of 'civilian supremacy'. According to him, the party will not join the proposed high-level political mechanism of the major parties unless the President's 'unconstitutional' move is rectified.Earlier, speaking at the end of the CC meeting, chairman Dahal described the meeting as a historic one and vowed to "keep intact the people's trust shown to the party". He also declared that the Unified-Maoist would not compromise on the issue of civilian supremacy. Dahal will hold a press conference at the party office on Sunday to publicise the decisions of the meeting.