Kathmandu [Nepal], November 5 (ANI): Following the September Gen-Z uprising and the announcement of elections for March next year, ten leftist parties have merged in Nepal to form “Nepali Communist Party.”
The new party also includes the CPN- Maoist Center and the CPN-Unified Socialist, led by former Prime Ministers Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda and Madhav Kumar Nepal, along with eight others.
Party leaders, including Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal, inaugurated the unity declaration conference by jointly pressing a remote button to formally start the event.
Later in the evening, the unity declaration also endorsed a nine-point agreement, selecting Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ as the party’s coordinator and Madhav Kumar Nepal as the co-coordinator.
“Today’s date in the history of Nepali communist movement has become a historic one because ten communist parties being merged into one is possibly the first of its kind in Nepal. Two or three parties previously might have merged, but the ten parties who had been in existence for a long time in their own place led by different leaders, the unity reflected now is unprecedented, historic and extraordinary,” former Nepali Prime Minister and Coordinator of the newly formed Nepali Communist Party said.
“The crisis through which the country is reeling through now, the allegations that are being made over the political parties in order to face against it and to forge a national consensus within that force, today is a day to start a new movement of independence and a day to make the new resolution,” Dahal added.
In the new structure, senior CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Jhalanath Khanal will hold the third-ranking position in the newly formed Nepal Communist Party.
All leaders and members of the uniting parties have now been recognized as members of the Nepali Communist Party, which will use the five-pointed star as its election symbol. As per the party’s preliminary charter, Marxism- Leninism has been announced as the guiding ideology.
It was also agreed that a National Unity Convention will be held within six months and that the central committee will be formed through mutual understanding by integrating existing committees of the uniting parties.
Addressing the ceremony, the co-coordinator of the newly formed Nepali Communist Party, Madhav Kumar Nepal, said the party will move forward as a strong force by correcting past weaknesses and winning back the people’s trust.
Nepal emphasized cooperation and alliances with other progressive forces to defend the constitution and the republic, while making it clear that there will be no compromises with anti-national or anti-constitutional elements.
“I want to make statement to Interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki from this stage here, you move ahead with firmness, protecting the constitution. Hold the election on the stipulated time making it free, fair, impartial and peaceful manner, move forward with holding the election for House of Representatives. After the successful conduct of the election, the new house will summarize the experience gained over the decade after promulgating the constitution and amendment that are required onto it. There are many more aspects that we need to improve (in the constitution),” Madhav Kumar Nepal, the co-coordinator of the newly formed party said.
Nepal concluded by affirming that the new Nepali Communist Party will emerge as Nepal’s principal communist party in the coming days.
Wednesday’s unification brings together the CPN- Maoist Centre, CPN (Unified Socialist), Nepal Socialist Party, Jana Samajbadi Party Nepal, Nepal Communist Party, CPN- Socialist, CPN- Maoist (Socialist), CPN-Communist, Maobadi Communist Kendra, Deshbhakta Samajbadi Morcha under a single umbrella.
However, some sections of the parties, such as Janardan Sharma and Ram Karki of the Maoist Centre and Ghanashyam Bhusal and Ram Kumari Jhakri, among others, of the Unified Socialist, have opted out of the unification process.
Unification amongst the communist parties ahead of the elections are not new in Nepal. After the September 8 and 9 uprising of the Gen-Z, then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was deposed from the post. At least 72 people were killed in two days of bloodshed which threw Oli off from the post as premier.
The Himalayan Nation after five days of deliberation and debate appointed Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki as the interim Prime Minister who recommended to dissolve the parliament and is mandated to conduct the election on March 5, 2026.
Though the new party aims to be the powerhouse of the Himalayan nation, critics highlight that several of the merging groups lack significant grassroots support, raising questions about the immediate influence and effectiveness of the newly proposed party. (ANI)