Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa has proposed sweeping political, ideological, organisational, and financial reforms in a political report he is preparing to present at the party’s 15th general convention, which began in Kathmandu on Sunday.

The report reviews the party’s recent political record and acknowledges that its growing focus on power, positions, factions, and access has pushed it further from the public. It proposes a new political culture and working style to reconnect the party with voters.

Thapa’s report says last year’s Gen Z protests and the political developments that followed should not be dismissed simply as the product of a conspiracy. Instead, it calls for the demands for good governance, opportunity, justice and equality raised by the movement to be addressed.

It calls for an impartial investigation into the use of force, violence, and damage caused by the state during the protests, followed by legal action against those responsible and justice and compensation for victims. It also calls on the party to view the results of the March 5 election as a consequence of the widening gap between the Congress and the public over the past two decades.

The report proposes establishing the Congress as an effective main opposition party after the general convention. It calls for fact-based scrutiny of the government’s work, vigilance against corruption and rights violations, and the presentation of alternative policies. To support this role, it proposes setting up “shadow governments” at the federal and provincial levels.

The party should not enter pre-election alliances in future elections, according to the report. Instead, it should go to voters under its own election symbol, and with its own candidates and agenda.

Candidate selection should be based on merit, contribution, and performance, rather than factional affiliation, personal connections, or financial influence, the report adds. It further proposes methods such as primary elections, referendums, or direct voting by party members to select candidates.

On ideology, the report calls for a 21st-century reinterpretation of nationalism, democracy, and democratic socialism. It links nationalism to the country’s capacity in energy, food, technology, finance, and knowledge, while arguing that democracy should extend beyond voting in elections to continuous citizen participation and involvement in decision-making.

On economic policy, the report proposes making the private sector a key partner in job creation, production, investment, and innovation. It calls for stronger investment protection, policy stability, and a better business environment, as well as measures to encourage remittance income to be invested in productive sectors, including agriculture, industry, tourism, and technology. Hydropower and clean energy should be linked to industrialisation and green exports, it says.

Under the concept of a “prosperous Nepal, dignified Nepalis”, the report says economic growth alone is not enough and calls for equal access to education, healthcare, nutrition, skills, capabilities, and opportunities. It links the concept of “pre-distributive justice”, which seeks to create equal opportunities from the outset, with education, healthcare, skills, financial access and employment.

The report proposes creating dignified jobs for young people in Nepal itself, making foreign employment safer and more rights-based, and ensuring social security for Nepali migrant workers while directing remittances towards productive sectors.

Development planning should also reflect changing patterns of population and migration, rather than being based solely on administrative boundaries, it says. Plans should take into account where citizens actually live and where they need public services.

The report has identified agriculture, energy, water, tourism, industry, and digital technology as the foundations of a production-oriented economy. It also calls for climate change to be treated as both an economic and national security issue, with disaster risks incorporated into infrastructure, settlement, and development planning.

The party should restructure its education and skills systems in response to the changes that technology and artificial intelligence are bringing to employment, education, and knowledge, according to the report.

Its social agenda includes tackling caste discrimination, child marriage, gender-based violence, and malnutrition, while prioritising education, healthcare and social security for senior citizens, children, women and vulnerable groups.

To make federalism work more effectively, the report proposes stronger coordination among the federal, provincial, and local governments, along with stronger administrative and fiscal federalism.

Any constitutional amendments should be made on the basis of national consensus, it says. Transitional justice should be concluded through truth, justice, and reparations rather than being treated as a subject for political bargaining.

The report also proposes greater financial transparency within the party, regular audits, a code of conduct, and investigations into leaders facing corruption allegations. It pledges that the party will not divide positions in the judiciary, constitutional bodies, universities, or the civil service on the basis of political affiliation, nor protect its own leaders or activists accused of corruption.

Among the constitutional and electoral reforms proposed are a two-term limit for prime ministers, the option of “none of the above” on ballot papers, voting rights for Nepalis living abroad, and measures to make the electoral system more participatory and transparent.

The report proposes an independent panel of young experts to study youth dissatisfaction and the demands raised by Gen Z and ensure that its recommendations inform policymaking. 

It also proposes establishing a Rs100 million endowment fund to provide long-term education and healthcare support to families of those killed, injured, or displaced in political movements. 

Thapa proposes restructuring the party around cooperation among different generations, while creating institutional mechanisms for leadership development and training, policy formulation, elections and good governance. 

The report proposes reviewing the party’s political and organisational performance over the past two decades within the first 100 days of the new leadership to be elected through the ongoing general convention. In the first year, provincial task forces would develop programmes on education, nutrition, employment, good governance and green development. The party would also publish an annual “Prosperity Report”.