By Our Reporter
Amid speculations about whether the ruling Nepali Congress can hold its 14th convention amid growing rift within the party and COVID-19 cases, it has succeeded to hold the ward level convention, the lowest unit of the party, in 59 districts.
As the party managed to resolve the active membership rows in 59 of 77 districts, the ward level convention was held only in those districts where the list of active members was finalised.
Interestingly, when the leaders in the centre are divided into several factions, most of the ward committees and representatives for the constituency level convention were elected unanimously across the country. The election had to be held only in a few wards, indicating that the factionalism in NC has not reached its lower committees. Again, in many wards, youths as young as 22-year-old were elected ward committee chair.
However, the ward level convention has become uncertain in some districts from where the leaders vying for the post of the party president have to be elected. Even in Dadeldhura, the home district of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, the convention is yet to be held.
After the ward level, the municipal level convention will be held on Saturday.
Meanwhile, more leaders have announced their candidacy for the key posts of the central committee. While Bimalendra Nidhi, Kiran Gurung and Gopalman Shrestha have announced their candidacy for the post of the party president, youth leader Gagan Thapa has announced his candidacy for the post of general secretary.
Besides Thapa, spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma and Pradeep Paudel are also in the race for the post of general secretary. With Thapa, Sharma and Paudel announcing their candidacy, the party is likely to have a youth general secretary this time.
However, it is still uncertain who will lead the party for the next four years. Although the current party president is said to be the strongest candidate, the candidacy of two of his close aides — Nidhi and Shrestha — have shaken his base in his strongholds, and if the rival Paudel camp manages to have a single candidate, for example, Dr Shekhar Koirala, Deuba is likely to face defeat. But it is unlikely that the Paudel faction will have a single candidate for the top posts from among Ram Chandra Paudel, Dr Shekhar Koirala, Dr Sashank Koirala and Prakash Man Singh.
Communist parties’ future in Nepal
With the downfall of the strong communist government led by KP Sharma Oli two months ago, the debate about the future of the communists in Nepal has begun. The communists which contested the 2017 general elections as a single party or an alliance have now been divided into three parties whereas Bamdev Gautam, who played the key role to unify the CPN-UML and the Maoist in 2017 is still out of the three parties formed by dividing the then Nepal Communist Party. Moreover, the enmity between UML chief KP Sharma Oli and Maoist Centre boss Pushpa Kamal Dahal and chairman of newly formed Nepal Communist Party Unified Socialist Madhav Kumar Nepal is not likely to bring them closer in near future. While Nepal and Dahal played the key role to oust Oli from power, they will probably never want to unify with the UML until Oli leads it.
Obviously, the division has weakened the communist force in the country and they are likely to face defeat in the general elections next year.
However, intellectuals associated with the then Nepal Communist Party had started predicting that Oli was finishing the Communist movement in Nepal right from the day he unconstitutionally dissolved the House of Representatives on December 20 last year. When his act was widely called unconstitutional and the Supreme Court reinstated the House accordingly, he did not stop here. He continuously resorted to one unconstitutional act after another and finally again dissolved the House in May. These activities of Oli further irked the communists who were not taking direct benefits from the Oli government and disappointed many who have sacrificed for political change in the country.
Moreover, when Oli surrendered to India and worked in favour of the forces which were not happy with the Constitution, this not only spoiled his nationalist image of the communists but also raised the question about the sustainability of the system ushered in by a joint struggle of the Nepali Congress and communists.
Fed up with the anti-national and anti-constitutional activities of Oli, Madhav Kumar Nepal formed CPN (Unified Socialist) although a few of his aides deceived him at the last moment. With Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal who contributed more than Oli for the organisational strength of CPN-UML, the division is sure to affect the UML led by Oli. Moreover, most of the leaders who are now with Oli have not good image in public with some facing corruption allegations and others with the background of goons. Also, Oli is accused of protecting the corruption of his party. Above all, the leaders who are now with Oli have no communist character.
Now that the NCP of the past has been divided into three separate parties, the communists are not likely to regain their strength soon. Dahal and Nepal may forge an election alliance, they cannot compete with the UML having a strong organisational base. But they will be strong enough to defeat the UML candidates in general elections. And when the divided communists are prevented from reaching power for 10 years, they are sure to be weakened further.
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