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Background and Rationale of our Revolt

Posted on December 15, 2021August 6, 2022

The Communist Party of Nepal was founded to establish a communist society following socialism attained through a complete phase of democratic revolution by ending feudal and imperialist exploitation, oppression, and tyranny prevailing in Nepalese society. The aim was to end class-based, ethnic, gender, social, cultural, and geographical differences in society and to establish a free and equal society with happy and prosperous people. Following these objectives, the party has long been leading people’s struggles, movements, and revolutions of various forms for the guarantee of their nationality, democracy, and livelihood. The party played a leading role in the peaceful People’s revolution of 2006/07 that dethroned the feudal monarchy that had been ruling and exploiting the Nepalese people for a long time, thereby establishing Nepal as a socialism-oriented federal democratic republic with special features such as secularism and inclusiveness of all nationalities.

With more than 70 years of history, the Communist Party of Nepal, while moving towards achieving its goals, has encountered several differences and controversies that rose within it, including incidents marking divisions and rebellion. Leaders including Comrade Pushpalal had revolted against the right-wing opportunism embraced by Keshar Jung Rayamajhi; 1971 saw the historic Jhapa Revolt while the Coordination Center was established in 1975 indicating that in the history of the party, not only incidents of conflict, division, and rebellion, but also acts of unity and unification have taken place. The CPN (ML) was formed in 1978 through the unification of many small communist groups in the process of uniting the divided Nepalese communist movement. Consequently, the CPN (UML) was formed in 1991 as a merger of the CPN (ML) and the CPN (Marxist). Events of division and reunification continued even after the formation of the CPN (UML). Therefore, the history of the Nepalese communist movement has been one of unification, division, rebellion, and reunification. Nevertheless, during many ups and downs, the Nepalese communist movement was and still is widely spread among the working-class Nepalese people. This is demonstrated by the fact that in the 2017 Nepalese general election, the majority of the votes were cast in favour of the communist parties.

The Ninth National General Convention of the CPN (UML) held in July 2014 explained that the revolutionary change in the country marked a capitalist democratic revolution and concluded that Nepalese society had entered the early stages of capitalism. Based on this conclusion, the party determined a working direction to build the foundations of socialism with Nepalese characteristics through economic, social, and cultural transformations of the society. However, KP Oli, who was elected as the party’s chairman in the same convention, did not act by the party’s guidelines, abandoning all revolutionary policies, principles, and ideas. Because of the neglect of rules and regulations, the organizational activities of the party were blocked; many committees were left unformed, and the meetings of the formed committees were not conducted regularly. The party became stagnant and weak. A faction was formed in the party by the chairman himself. Those who disagreed with him were not included in the responsible committee of the party and no responsibility was given to them. The institutional system in the party was crumbling and factional activities were flourishing. In the Communist Party, the leader rose above the party policy, and his individualistic egoism was gaining ground. The cult of personality in the party was growing. The party was being pushed into the mire of right-wing opportunism. We had been continuously waging an inter-party struggle against these misconceived views and behaviours, but KP Oli’s views, behaviours, and working style did not waver at all.

Given the history of unification, division, rebellion, and reunification of the Nepalese communist movement, the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) was formed on May 17, 2018, by uniting the then CPN (UML) and the CPN (Maoist Center). While uniting the party, certain ideas and procedures for the party were agreed upon. However, KP Oli, one of the two presidents of the said United Party, disregarded them. Not wanting to run the party based on its policies and procedures, he continued forming factions, operating in an arbitrary and individualistic manner, and pushing the party further in the direction of right-wing opportunism. We continued to criticize his wrong views and behaviour. At times when his position faced trouble, he entered into various agreements that he never followed through on. After the party’s standing committee, the politburo, and central committee were in the minority, instead of holding necessary discussions and debates within the party, he continued to engage in non-political and irresponsible activities such as not holding party meetings, dismissing them when the outcomes were not in his favour, or not even attending them altogether.

The two major communist parties of Nepal jointly contested the 2017 general elections, winning popular support and having the opportunity to form a government with a nearly two-thirds majority. Instead of using this opportunity to build the foundation of socialism by making good use of everyone’s thoughts, intellect, experience, and expertise and by conducting a massive development campaign, KP Oli, who was elected prime minister, did not live up to the party’s policy, election manifesto, and public expectations. The policies and programs presented by the government did not include any of the policies and programs put forward by the party. On the contrary, a bill permitting foreign investment in agriculture was introduced to discourage national capital investment and encourage foreign comprador capital. Also, the controversial Guthi Bill was brought against the cultural values ​​of the people. Despite our repeated requests to run the government according to the party’s policy and people’s expectations, undemocratic, irresponsible, and totalitarian thinking continued unabated. Based on the report of the task force formed to suggest solutions to the problems that have arisen within the then CPN (Maoist), the then Standing Committee on September 11, 2020, stated that the KP Oli-led government would run full-term, reorganize the Council of Ministers and would abide by the decision and the direction of the party when formulating the budget and making important political decisions and appointments. It was also decided to let KP Oli remain the party president until the next general convention. Although the decisions were followed, anti-national and non-democratic activities were carried out, exemplified by the secret talks with the heads of the foreign intelligence agencies at midnight. The constitution was violated and the House of Representatives was dissolved unconstitutionally on December 20, 2020. This unconstitutional act was condemned by the overwhelming majority (about 70 percent) of the Central Committee of the then Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) as a reactionary step, and a political and legal struggle was waged against it. To save the country from the wrongdoings of KP Oli, who took regressive, unconstitutional steps with the nefarious intention of ending the federal democratic republic established by the people and pushing the Nepalese communist movement towards dissolution, the ordinary Nepalese public, various pro-democracy political parties, civil society, journalists, intellectuals, and professionals took to the streets. Consequently, the KP Oli-led government cracked down on the people’s movement. Politically isolated, KP Oli resorted to regressive elements and even turned to Hindu nationalism (Hindutwa). But the people’s movement for the defence of democracy only became stronger. On February 23, 2021, the Supreme Court, in a landmark decision to restore the dissolved House of Representatives by the provisions of the constitution, defended the constitution and respected the will of the people.

KP Oli, who was shocked by the decision of the Supreme Court, started conspiring again. Meanwhile, on March 7, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that the party unity between the CPN (UML) and the CPN (Maoist Center) should be revoked and decided to return the parties to the status quo, i.e., how they were on May 16, 2018, an issue which was not even raised by the plaintiff. Even after the verdict, the party could have taken the initiative to maintain unity, as the Supreme Court had also offered to accept a reunion if a new party name was presented to the Election Commission within 15 days. But as KP Oli wanted division, not unity, to maintain his single dominance in the party, he did not take any initiative to preserve the party unity and led the party towards division.

The verdict of March 7, 2021, ruled that the CPN (UML) should operate in the status dating May 16, 2018. We maintained that the party should be run in line with the verdict to maintain unity. However, KP Oli’s right-wing and liquidationist thinking and his desire to maintain his monopoly in the party led to the disintegration of the CPN (UML). He held a meeting with his faction calling it the ‘Special Meeting of the Central Committee on March 12, 2021 contrary to the party constitution, rules, and regulations without informing all the members of the said Central Committee, reversed the decisions of the Ninth General Convention of the CPN (UML), and unilaterally amended the party constitution adopted by it. He pushed the CPN (UML) in the direction of division by making decisions such as dismissing the posts of office bearers elected from the General Convention, appointing non-party members to the Central Committee, and forming a Central Committee of his personal choice. The split of the CPN (UML) started with this very decision of the KP Oli faction. Since all the decisions made by KP Oli in such a factional, authoritarian, arbitrary, and individualistic manner were against the party policies, we tried our best to correct him and bring the party back to its state of May 16, 2018. But KP Oli showed so much pride and arrogance that he was not ready to correct anything and held his divisive stance. A serious crisis arose in the party. After such a crisis arose, we felt compelled to revolt against KP Oli’s factionalism, authoritarianism, individualistic egoism, and right-wing opportunism. We considered it our duty and responsibility to reorganize the party and move the movement forward to prevent it from dissolving. In such a dire situation, on March 17-18, 2021, we gathered the national cadres and, after an in-depth discussion, launched a nationwide parallel organization-building campaign with the call to “save the unity of the CPN-UML and protect the communist movement.” We exposed KP Oli’s erroneous and inconsistent right-wing opportunistic views and anti-democratic and regressive behaviour. We launched a two-month campaign to build a parallel organizational structure within our ideological group. During that time, we formed provincial committees in all the provinces, 71 district committees, and four special district committees. In addition, we formed central committees for women, workers, youth, students, sports, oppressed ethnicities, and other people’s mass organizations. The total of all these actions was a kind of rebellion and a severe challenge to the KP Oli faction.

We have not only campaigned for the reorganization of the party and the people’s mass organizations but also, after rigorous discussions in the numerous meetings of the central committee and the standing committee held after the National Cadres’ Conference of March 17-18, 2021, came to the conclusion that the notorious, corrupt, and arbitrary KP Oli-led government must be removed, and that KP Oli should be removed from the post of Prime Minister. Accordingly, discussions and agreements were reached with other parties, and when KP Oli asked for a vote of confidence, we were absent from the voting process. That was another major event of the uprising. After KP Oli dissolved the House of Representatives for the second time on May 21, 2021, we filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court against that regressive move and even witnessed ourselves in court. The writ also sought an order to re-establish the House of Representatives and appoint the Hon’ble Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba as Prime Minister. As demanded in the writ petition, the Supreme Court, while defending the constitution, issued a verdict to re-establish the House of Representatives and appoint Sher Bahadur Deuba as the Prime Minister by constitution. Since we have done all of the above to protect the Constitution and democracy by saving the House of Representatives, we should have given a vote of confidence to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to save the House of Representatives. It was legitimate revolt to defend democracy and safeguard the constitution. This revolt was necessary and justified to maintain political stability in the country.

We had concluded from the National Cadres’ Conference on March 17–18, 2021, that we would emphasize respectful unity in the party or else revolt and reorganize the party. Unity is not something that can be achieved by one side alone; it can only happen if both sides want it. We continued to push for unity, but the Oli faction continued to pursue divisive activities. It not only carried out divisive activities in organizational terms but also pushed the party towards disintegration by rejecting the constitution, principles, and ideas embraced by the party and the line of action set by the Ninth National General Convention. Meanwhile, KP Oli pretended that he was in favour of unity and assigned people to negotiate. In the talks, the so-called ten-point agreement was reached by chicanery and not through genuine and sincere effort. The main objective of the KP Oli faction to reach a ten-point agreement on the night of July 11, 2021, was to influence the issue of the dissolution of the House of Representatives pending in the court scheduled for July 12. The talks were just a drama, a ploy to confuse and deceive the unity process. The so-called ten-point agreement is the result of a serious conspiracy by the KP Oli faction, leaving aside the basic issues we have raised, our ideological aspect, criticisms, and even the consensus reached with KP Oli on matters regarding the decision-making process and organizational structure of the party. The agreement does not even say that the conclusion can be reached only by reaching an agreement between the two major leaders. The ten points of the alleged agreement are of a purely technical nature. Thus, without entering into ideological and political issues, the party could not be united by agreeing only on technical points, and unity would not be sustainable. The party could not be unified until KP Oli apologized to the people, realizing that the dissolution of the elected House of Representatives was wrong. It would be wrong to forget the issues we had raised and unite only on technical and managerial issues. So, we were forced to conclude that there could not be unity based on such a technical nature and to stand up and revolt against it.

We made continuous efforts to preserve the party’s unity, but the KP Oli faction did not want to unite under any circumstances. Hence, we were compelled to form the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist) through the reform and transformation of the CPN (UML) to protect the Nepalese communist movement. This is a principled, justifiable, and essential revolt for the defence of the Nepalese communist movement. The party and the movement had been saved by revolts like this many times in the past as well. For instance, while Keshar Jung Rayamajhi was leading the party in the direction of right-wing opportunism, comrade Pushpalal and other leaders revolted and defended the party’s reorganization movement. Leaders, including Mohan Bikram Singh, had revolted and launched a reorganization campaign. At a time when the communist movement was weakening, the Nepalese communist movement was protected and developed by conducting party reorganization campaigns even after the Jhapa struggle, Muktimorcha revolt, and Barre struggle. Today, KP Oli has again pushed the Nepalese Communist Movement towards the quagmire and dissolution of right-wing opportunism.

A revolutionary communist party must embrace the Marxist-Leninist worldview, that is, the dialectical materialist worldview. It should always be active in favour of a radical change in society. It should be constantly working on behalf of the general working class of society and should act by the mandate by internalizing that the sovereignty of the country lies with the people. A communist party must always strive to put into practice the principles it has embraced. The principles of Marxism-Leninism must be applied constructively based on the ground realities of the country and the level of social development. These are the main qualities that should be present in a revolutionary communist party. Hence, the KP Oli faction cannot be considered communist. That faction has abandoned the notion of accepting and embracing the diversity of ideas through democratic centralism and people’s multi-party democracy, respect for rules and operational procedures in statecraft, and people-cantered character and culture. Therefore, the Oli faction is not in favour of the multi-party democracy of the people but is a bunch of right-wing opportunists focused on personal interests. With this conclusion, we have revolted to work for the radical change of Nepalese society by reorganizing the revolutionary ranks within the CPN (UML) in a new way and protecting and developing the Nepalese communist movement. This revolt was a justified historical necessity. This will go a long way in protecting and developing the Nepalese communist movement, creating new hope, faith, and energy in the general Nepalese towards the Communist Party and the movement, and radically changing the Nepalese society.

Reasons for Our Revolt

• To protect and develop the revolutionary stream by preventing the Nepalese communist movement from drowning in right-wing opportunism is being done by the KP Oli faction.
• To protect and constructively use the core principles of Marxism-Leninism (dialectical materialistic worldview, transformational approach, working-class favouring point of view, sovereignty of the people, and uniformity between theory and practice) that were abandoned by the KP Oli faction.
• To move towards socialism while protecting and building on the basic ideological values ​​of people’s multi-party democracy (accepting and adopting diversity of ideas, adopting democratic procedures and pro-people’s attitudes and behaviour) since they have been abandoned.
• To create a revolutionary and people-oriented party that is capable of achieving the goal of socialism by building a national capital in the interest of the people, Contrary to KP Oli, who, while leading the government on behalf of the party, dedicated himself to the service of comprador capitalists, instead of implementing the economic, social, and cultural programs laid down by the principles of people’s multi-party democracy to achieve a socio-cultural-economic transformation of society.
• To stop the anti-national and anti-people activities that the KP Oli faction was involved in while running the government based on the votes won by the coalition of the two major communist parties of the country, and to work in the interests of the country, the people, and the nation.
• To dismantle the plot of the KP Oli faction to end the democracy achieved through the long and rigorous struggle of the Nepalese people and thereby protect and develop democracy.
• To thwart the repeated attacks by the KP Oli faction on the Constitution of Nepal which was prepared by the Nepalese people through their representatives, to protect it and fully implement it.
• To protect the constitution and governance from the KP Oli faction, which showed no readiness to fulfil promises made to the people in the last election and instead unconstitutionally dissolved the parliament, took no initiatives to provide even minimum health facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, indulged in widespread corruption in the purchase of health equipment and conspired against the constitution and the republic together with the opponents of the constitution and the law.
• To serve the public interest while upholding morality, good governance, purity, transparency, and impartiality by combating wrongdoings such as corruption, bad governance, commission fraud, and nepotism that the KP Oli faction’s patronage system rewarded.