Madhav Kumar Nepal and Ghanashyam Bhusal have retained their positions as party chair and general secretary of the CPN (Unified Socialist) respectively. Nepal and Bhusal were unanimously selected for the party’s two key positions at the ongoing general convention, which started in Kathmandu Sunday.

The Unified Socialist, the sixth biggest party in the federal House of Representatives with 10 members, has decided to hold elections for 19 other office bearer positions.

After being unanimously selected as party chair, in a brief interview with the Post, Nepal said that the general convention representatives gave him one more chance to justify the party split.

“To justify the split [from the UML], the general convention representatives have once again entrusted me with the responsibility as party chair,” Nepal told the Post. “My main goal now is to move forward by making the party more powerful and effective.”

When asked how his repetition as party chair justifies the party split, Nepal said, “The power that dissolved the earlier House of Representatives twice out of arrogance over its numerical strength has been defeated because of us, and this should be considered as an achievement.” Nepal was referring to KP Sharma Oli’s dissolution of Parliament in 2020 and 2021. Both attempts were thwarted by the Supreme Court.

“Realising the need for mature leadership in the party to deal with such forces and other problems in the country, the convention delegates unanimously selected me as party chair,” argued former prime minister Nepal.

In August 2021, a group of CPN-UML leaders led by Nepal split the country’s largest communist party to form the Unified Socialist. The new party’s leaders have been describing their decision to split the UML as a revolt against UML chair KP Sharma Oli’s decision to dissolve the Parliament twice.

Apart from Nepal and Bhusal, former prime minister Jhalanath Khanal has also retained the position of the party senior leader.

Before the start of the general convention, Nepal, Khanal and Bhusal all had staked claims to the position of party chair. But once Khanal was nominated for praesidium membership, he was automatically out of the race, leaving Nepal and Bhusal as candidates for the party chair.

After Khanal was out of the race, the party formed a 13-member committee under his chairmanship to conduct the convention’s close session starting Sunday.

“Nepal and Bhusal have been unanimously elected as the party chair and general secretary respectively,” Ramkumari Jhakri, a party leader, told the Post. “For the remaining 19 office bearer positions, the party has decided to hold an election.”

Newly elected chair Nepal, however, said party leadership is also trying to elect office bearers through consensus.

“There is an opinion among representatives that apart from the main leadership, other officials can be chosen through election, but we are trying to select them through consensus,” Nepal told the Post.

As per its statute, the party will have 21 office bearers, which includes chairman, a senior vice-chair, seven vice-chairs including one woman, a general secretary, four deputy general secretaries, and seven secretaries.

A large group of central level leaders including 20 officer bearers split the UML to form the CPN (Unified Socialist) in 2021. Nepal and Khanal, both former prime ministers and former chiefs of the CPN-UML, led the splinter faction. But the party struggled to attract members in the grassroots, and become a top-heavy organisation.

Ahead of the general convention, the leaders amended the party statute to increase the number of office bearers to 21, besides the senior leader.

According to the original schedule, nominations for the election should have started on Wednesday and the convention should have concluded by Thursday. But, as the party leaders took time to reach consensus to select party chair and general secretary, the process has been prolonged.

Although Khanal became ready to hand over the party reins to the new generation, Nepal did not agree. Nepal intends to hold onto the position as long as possible, say party insiders.

“General Secretary Bhusal was initially in favour of transfering the leadership and was ready to face an election” says a party leader. “But when the party leaders stressed the need for electing top leadership through consensus, Bhusal agreed to retain his earlier position.”

The team leaders who spoke at the closed session of the general convention suggested that selecting the main party leadership unanimously would send a positive message, said a party leader.

“No matter how hard they try, party leadership has been unable to select all party officials through consensus,” a politburo member of the party told the Post.

A total of 1,875 representatives have gathered in Kathmandu from across the country to elect 21 office bearers and 299 central central committee members.

Meanwhile, the general convention has also approved socialism as the official party line. People’s multiparty democracy, which was a key component of the socialist programmes championed by the late UML general secretary Madan Bhandari, has been incorporated as the guiding party principle.