'Communist forces must unite to challenge Nepali Congresss'
KATHMANDU, JUNE 28
Bamdev Gautam, who quit the CPN-UML a few months ago, has announced a new party under his leadership with the major objective of unifying the communist forces, particularly the CPN-UML, CPN-Maoist Centre and CPN (Unified Socialist).
Gautam held a press conference here today to announce the opening of his party, CPN-Unity National Campaign.
The party has 75 central members, including his wife Tulsa Thapa and son Haris Dev Gautam.
It has 15 standing committee members. The party will have one chairperson, seven vice- chairpersons, each in charge of a province, one general secretary, one treasurer, one deputy general secretary, and one secretary.
Gautam, who had lost the last House of Representatives election from Bardiya, was nominated to the National Assembly by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari in September 2020 on the recommendation of the then Nepal Communist Party (NCP) government.
Responding to a mediaperson's query, Gautam said if communist forces did not unite, the Nepali Congress would possibly win a simple majority or at least emerge as the largest party in the House of Representatives and in all provincial assemblies. "The NC could then lead the government for full five years and in elections after five years, the NC would not need any alliance," Gautam said.
He said although communist forces could effect changes by joining hands with the NC, often the NC failed to protect national interests. "Under the NC government we communists were forced to sign the Millennium Challenge Corporation compact with the United States after passing the 12-point interpretive declaration," Gautam added.
He alleged that the NC had done nothing in the name of development.
"In order to develop the country, communist forces should unite and form a government," he added.
Gautam said the Supreme Court's decision that nullified the unification of the CPN-UML and the CPN-Maoist Centre was erroneous and harmful.
He said if his party failed to unify the CPN-UML, the CPN- MC, and the CPN (Unified Socialist) before parliamentary and provincial polls, it would at least try to get them to agree on a working alliance. "If the three parties agree on a working alliance, the Rastriya Janamorcha and the Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal could also be roped in to form a broader left election alliance," Gautam said in a press release. He said if he failed to unify the three left parties, his party would ally with those communist forces that would respect its ideology. He added that if the party failed to achieve any of its lofty goals, it would work as a separate communist party.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 29, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
