KATHMANDU: Discontent is simmering within the youth ranks of Nepal’s main opposition party, CPN-UML, as aspiring leaders from its sister organizations accuse the party’s top leadership of interfering in internal democratic processes and stifling fair competition.
One recent example of the party’s interference in its sister organizations is the ongoing 24th National Convention of the All Nepal National Free Students’ Union (ANNFSU)—UML’s student wing. Although the four-day convention kicked off on June 8, the process to nominate candidates for leadership positions only began four days later.
Student leaders say the delay was caused by the UML leadership’s insistence on reaching a consensus on leadership instead of holding elections. “We were instructed to forge a consensus two days ago. Even a preliminary name list was prepared and circulated,” said one student leader. “The election committee was compelled to initiate the voting process only after convention representatives protested the list.”
Outgoing secretaries Dr Sujan Kadariya and Prakash Paudel are vying for the chairmanship of the ANNFSU. The party had proposed Dr Kadariya as the chairperson and Paudel as the vice chairperson.
The UML leadership showed the same tendency in the election of its student wing—Youth Association Nepal (YAN)—in Pokhara two weeks ago, urging youth leaders to support consensus candidates picked by the party leadership.
The UML leadership has repeated the same pattern at the ANNFSU convention. Party leaders had pressured aspirants not to contest elections and opt for a consensual selection instead. Prime Minister and UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli even summoned aspirants to his residence and instructed them not to participate in the electoral process.
“If representatives supporting Poudel hadn’t protested, the leadership would have automatically selected candidates from a pre-determined list,” an aspirant told Himal Press. “The environment for the election was created only after young representatives protested the party’s decision.”
One ANNFSU leader said they were being forced to fight against their own party’s leadership instead of rival organizations. “Our right to elect leadership is being suppressed under the guise of consensus,” the leader added.
It all began at the 10th General Convention
Observers say the trend of controlling sister organizations began after UML’s 10th General Convention, where KP Sharma Oli was re-elected as chairperson. Since then, Oli has been adamant on selecting the leadership of party wings on a consensus basis.
Oli had wanted to be the consensus candidate in the 10th general convention. However, Bhim Rawal filed a nomination, and the voting was held. This dampened the relationship between Oli and Rawal, which ultimately led to Rawal’s exit from the party.
Since then, party conventions at the provincial and district levels have been increasingly dominated by “pocket lists” prepared by top leaders. The same pattern is being replicated in sister organizations. Only five out of UML’s 23 sister organizations have held elections.
“Why is it so difficult for the leadership to let us compete?” asked former YAN Vice Chairperson Prakash Gautam. “We were not fighting the rival faction, but leaders like Mahesh Basnet and Kiran Paudel within our own party.”
In ANNFSU, leaders like Bipul Thapa and Pavitra Dhakal are among those criticizing this growing “patronage culture” in the party. “We can’t claim to be a revolutionary organization if we are only reading out name lists handed to us by senior leaders,” Thapa said.
Another controversial move was the imposition of an age cap—only those under 32 can now contest leadership positions. The directive came directly from the UML’s Secretariat. It disqualified about 30% of potential candidates, including several prominent aspirants, ANNFSU leaders say.
“This wasn’t our decision,” said one former ANNFSU leader. “The party is using age limits as a tool to sideline dissenting voices.”
Many student leaders vying for ANNFSU leadership are now ineligible to contest.
Along with lowering the age limit, the party has instructed its sister organization to trim the size of its executive committee. The ongoing convention of ANNFSU will elect a nine-member executive committee, significantly smaller than in previous years. With only a few positions on offer, competition among student leaders have intensified.
UML’s heavy-handed control over its sister organizations is weakening internal democracy and eroding long-term organizational integrity. Unless the party restores democratic mechanisms within its ranks, its sister organizations risk turning into “puppet structures”.
