Politics
Four-year-old Unified Socialist faces wasting due to leadership crisis, eroding public appeal
As the party marks its anniversary today, cadres ask leaders to find ways to reassure supporters and well-wishers.
Purushottam Poudel
As the CPN (Unified Socialist) marks the fourth anniversary of its establishment on Monday, the party grapples with internal discord and questions over its leadership and relevance in national politics.
Party leaders try to present the outfit as a force for unity and reform in Nepal’s communist movement. But a corruption case against Unified Socialist chair Madhav Kumar Nepal, prolonged disputes among the top leaders, and importance to old faces in party committees have tarnished its image.
The party, formed after splitting from the CPN-UML in 2021, contested elections in 2022 and held a general convention last year but is still struggling to prove its relevance in national politics.
Two of the lawmakers out of the 10 elected from the party are inactive in internal politics due to differences with the top leadership.
Political observers say the party lacks a strong face that can lead the organisation amid new challenges.
Party insiders also concede that with the party full of old faces and younger voices that could have generated optimism in the public being sidelined, the relatively new force has lost its momentum.
Observers add that the party leadership also fails to bring any sense of renewal in its agenda.
Left-leaning political analyst Krishna Pokhrel says that a reason for the party’s failure is its inability to gain a national party status from the 2022 general elections. The party’s downfall started after it could not achieve the status of a national party, Pokhrel said.
As per Nepal’s electoral law, a political party has to secure at least three percent of the total valid votes cast under the proportional representation (PR) category and win at least a seat under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system to claim PR seats. But the Unified Socialist secured only 2.82 percent votes under the PR category, thus failing to secure the national party status.
“Failure in the election weakens the bond among party members,” Pokhrel said.
The party lacks concerted effort to motivate cadres who deserted the country’s largest communist force to form a new party. But it is engulfed in infighting.
Recently, party chair Nepal and senior leader Jhala Nath Khanal, both former prime ministers, engaged in scathing criticism of each other in public forums.
The dispute between Nepal and Khanal took a nasty turn after their public spat. In a television interview, Khanal levelled serious allegations against Nepal’s leadership style and even claimed that the party leadership has failed to justify a split from the UML.
Khanal also stressed that Nepal should give up the party chair because a corruption case against him is sub judice in the Special Court. In June, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) implicated Nepal in the Patanjali land scam.
Former prime minister Nepal was immediately suspended as a lawmaker, but he continues to hold the party chair.
Nepal strongly countered Khanal. The party chief suggested that Khanal had better leave the party if he was not convinced of the objective of the party split.
Amid allegations and counterarguments between the party chair and the second-in-command, the two leaders agreed with party comrades to stop publicly criticising each other.
The party recently welcomed Bamdev Gautam, a veteran UML leader who had remained relatively inactive since the 2021 split.
The Unified Socialist, who inducted him to strengthen the party, however, saw a fresh dispute over his role even as leaders don’t admit it officially.
Soon after joining the party, Gautam wanted to oversee the party organisation, a position currently held by senior leader Beduram Bhusal.
Recently, the party designated Gautam as third-in-command, with the responsibility to oversee all party committees.
“Gautam indeed demanded leadership of the organisation department, but there is no tussle after the party gave him an important role,” said a party leader.
A party insider pointed out that a reason why the party is stagnant is the feeling of insecurity among the top leaders who feel threatened when second-rung leaders launch some sort of a campaign at the grassroots level.
“This allegation is partly true,” said a party official without elaborating.
Ashesh Ghimire, a politburo member, denies the claim. Since the party's central leadership oversees every programme, they have no such worry, he argues.
The Unified Socialist launched a movement, overseen by its general secretary, Ghanashyam Bhusal, on March 13 with the slogan ‘Good governance and employment: Preparing for socialism’.
After completing the campaign, the party handed a memorandum to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on April 30. The document covered such areas as agriculture, industry, education, health, tourism, information technology, infrastructure, governance, foreign policy and constitutional review.
In addition, the party demanded that persons committing policy corruption be held accountable. According to a leader, the party also demanded that properties of all the prime ministers since the 1990s be investigated.
However, when the CIAA, the anti-graft body, filed a corruption case against Nepal, the party saw the decision as politically motivated.
Observers allege that the party failed to hold on to its own stance. The party, whose chair earlier demanded that “properties of all prime ministers after the 1990s be investigated”, should have stood firm and supported the government in the investigation.
Party leaders, nonetheless, claim that they have cooperated with the government regarding the investigation. They accuse the government of targeting their party leader when other prime ministers facing similar allegations are not subjected to probe.
The party’s publicity department head, Prakash Jwala, clarifies: “Since we know that the case against our chair is politically motivated, our party will not compel him to step down as chief.”
“We don’t have any internal issue with the party chair in not relinquishing his post as it is politically motivated,” Jwala said.
Jwala also refused to acknowledge that the party has become stagnant.
“It is a newly formed party, and despite all odds, we have been carrying forward many programmes and will continue to do so,” Jwala said.