KATHMANDU: The Nepali Communist Party (NCP), formed following a merger among 22 parties ahead of the March 5 election, is unlikely to implement its general convention schedule.
The party has decided to hold its general convention from Nov 27 to November 1. Even though less than three months remain, leaders say preparation for the convention has not begun. They say there has not even been adequate internal discussion on organizational development, membership renewal or preparations for the convention.
“Given the lack of preparations, it does not seem likely that the general convention will be held on time,” NCP leader Jagannath Khatiwada said. “Maybe you should ask this question to party Coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal.”
The NCP had decided to complete the organizational integration of its federal, provincial, municipal, ward and sister organizations by mid-June. While integration has been done at some levels, the process has yet to be completed.
The party’s main committees, however, have been integrated. Unified committees were formed by incorporating leaders from the CPN (Maoist Center), CPN (Unified Socialist) and other parties according to their respective political standing. But the integration of the sister organizations has yet to be completed.
Leaders also have no information about the situation of party membership. Although the party was formed through a merger of 22 parties, the party does not have an exact record of how many members and cadres from those parties have been absorbed into the new organization.
“Our total membership should be around 1.1 million given the strength of merging parties. But it has yet to be determined how many members we have after the election,” Khatiwada said.
As per the timeline of the general convention, ward conventions had to be completed by August 31. Similarly, municipal conventions are to be held by mid-September, district conventions by mid-October and provincial conventions by October-end. However, even preparations for the ward and municipal conventions have not moved forward effectively.
“At this pace, our party will not hold its general convention even by March-April next year, let alone November,” says an NCP leader. “Even a meeting of the Central Committee has not been called so far. There is no indication that one will be convened immediately either. So how will the general convention take place?”
Party leaders say a Central Committee meeting is the first requirement for moving convention preparations forward. The Central Committee needs to become active to make decisions on a new organizational strategy, the format of the convention, the selection of delegates and even leadership changes, they say.
But leaders complain that there are no signs of an immediate plan to convene even that Central Committee meeting.
“It is the monsoon season now. A devastating flood occurred just last week. Invitations for a Central Committee meeting have to be sent at least 15 days in advance,” one leader said. “If the meeting was to be called by mid-September, members should have been invited by now. But where are the preparations?”
Another NCP leader, Ranjit Tamang, is also dissatisfied with the pace of convention preparations.
“There are no signs that the party is preparing to hold the general convention. It does not appear that the party chairman’s attention is focused on it,” Tamang said. “There is a natural disaster on one hand, while on the other, the leaders do not appear to be focused on the convention.”
Party leaders say natural disasters, the monsoon, festivals and organizational complexities are not the only reasons behind the slow pace of preparations.
When the party was formed, it projected itself as a new political force carrying the message of leftist unity. But the question of whether to continue with the old leadership or hand over leadership to a new generation has now become increasingly contentious within the party.
“The party chair was committed to the agenda of transformation before the election, but that is no longer visible now,” Tamang said. “Following the Gen Z protest, he had come to the conclusion that he should relinquish the leadership. That doesn’t appear to be the case now.”
Some NCP leaders believe the process is unlikely to gain momentum unless Dahal himself actively creates an environment for moving the general convention forward.
“There is intense pressure within the party for leadership change. Perhaps the leaders feel they may not be able to withstand that pressure. I have found that they are letting time pass for that reason,” one leader said.
One faction within the party favors moving top leaders such as Dahal, Co-Coordinator Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal into advisory roles and handing leadership over to a new generation.
“Leaders including Jhala Nath are now ready to become advisers. But the main leader does not appear ready,” another NCP leader says.
This suggests that the general convention is increasingly being viewed not merely as a process of organizational restructuring, but as a decisive forum for transferring leadership.
Even the nature of the convention remains unclear within the NCP. No clear decision has yet been made on whether the convention will be limited to organizational matters or will be a full-fledged convention that also redefines the party’s policies, leadership and political direction.
“Under the current statute, it is not certain whether the convention in will be only organizational or will also deal with policy matters. The Central Committee must be called immediately to clarify this. Only then can there be clarity about the general convention,” Tamang said.
While some leaders are saying natural disasters could delay the general convention, others are not prepared to accept natural disasters as the main reason for the slow pace of convention preparations. They say necessary decisions and organizational processes can be moved forward despite difficult circumstances, if there is political will.
NCP Spokesperson Prakash Jwala, however, insists that the general convention will be held on schedule.
“All the processes have already moved forward. There is no doubt that the general convention will be held on the scheduled dates,” Jwala said. “The work of membership renewal has already begun.”
