The Nepal Communist Party, abbreviated NCP (, ) was a communist party in Nepal that existed from 2018 to 2021. It was founded on 17 May 2018, from the unification of two

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

parties,

Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) (; Abbreviation, abbr. CPN (UML)) is a Communism in Nepal, communist List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal. The party emerged as one of the major parties in Nepal af ...

and

Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) (), abbreviated CPN (Maoist Centre) or CPN (MC), is the third largest List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal and a member party of Socialist Front (Nepal), Samajbadi Morcha. I ...

. The unification was completed by the Party Unification Coordination Committee, after eight months of negotiation. The two predecessor parties subsequently dissolved, making way for the new united party. The party retained the electoral symbol of the CPN (UML), the sun. The party was the largest political party in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

and in all provincial assemblies except No. 2. Former Prime Minister of Nepal

Pushpa Kamal Dahal Pushpa Kamal Dahal (; born Ghanashyam Dahal, 11 December 1954), alias ''Prachanda'' (, , "fierce"), is a Nepalese politician, currently serving as the Leader of the Opposition, since July 2024. He has served as the Prime Minister of Nepal o ...

and K. P. Sharma Oli, both served as the chairmen of the party. After internal conflicts in the party and the

dissolution of parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly (or parliament) is the simultaneous termination of service of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy ...

, the party splintered into two major factions. On 8 March 2021, Nepal's Supreme Court stated that the allocation of the name "Nepal Communist Party" upon the merger of the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre), and by extension the merger itself, was void ''ab initio'', as the name was already allotted to a party led by Rishiram Kattel, and that the NCP stood "dismissed". Upon the ruling, the two predecessor parties were revived in their original state immediately prior to the merger, although should the two wish to merge again with proper procedure being followed, it would be fully allowed.

History

Left alliance and unification

On 3 October 2017, the two major communist parties, the

and the

who were second and third largest party of

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

respectively announced a coalition for the upcoming legislative and provincial election. This was joined by Naya Shakti Party led by former prime minister

Baburam Bhattarai Baburam Bhattarai (, ; born 18 June 1954), also known by his nom de guerre Laaldhwoj, is a Nepalese politician, architect and former Prime Minister of Nepal, Prime Minister who presently serves as leader of the Nepal Socialist Party. Bhattarai ...

. This was a practice to side line the largest party of Nepal,

Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ; Abbreviation, abbr. NC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal and the largest party in the country ...

from government and decrease its strength in parliament. The three parties also announced plans for unification following the election with the formation of a Unification Coordination Committee. On 14 October 2017, Naya Shakti Party broke from the alliance citing differences with the two parties. The alliance between the two parties won a majority in the

and in six of the seven provincial assemblies. Following the elections, it was decided that CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) would get chief ministers in Province No. 1,

Bagmati Province Bagmati Province (, ''Bāgmatī pradēśa'') is one of the seven Provinces of Nepal, provinces of Nepal established by the constitution of Nepal. Bagmati is Nepal's second-most populous province and fifth largest province by area. It is bordered ...

Gandaki Province Gandaki Province ( ) ), is one of the seven federal provinces established by the current constitution of Nepal which was promulgated on 20 September 2015. Pokhara is the province's capital city. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region in Southw ...

and

Lumbini Province Lumbini Province () is a Provinces of Nepal, province in western Nepal. The country's Provinces of Nepal, third largest province in terms of area as well as List of Nepalese provinces by population, population, Lumbini is home to the World Herita ...

, and CPN (Maoist Centre) would get chief ministers in Karnali Province and

Sudurpashchim Province Sudurpashchim Province () is one of the seven Provinces of Nepal, provinces established by the Constitution of Nepal, new constitution of Nepal which was adopted on 20 September 2015. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, ...

. The party also won a two-thirds majority in the

. Following the formation of the Federal Parliament of Nepal, parliamentary party leader of the

Khadga Prasad Oli Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli (; born 22 February 1952), commonly known as K. P. Sharma Oli or simply K. P. Oli (English pronunciation: , ), is a Nepalese politician who is serving as the prime minister of Nepal since 15 July 2024. Chairman of the ...

was sworn in as

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

on 15 February 2018. The merger of the two parties was initially announced for 22 April 2018, to coincide with the formation of the original Communist Party of Nepal in 1949, but the unification was put on hold citing insufficient time to sort out remaining issues. The CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) and CPN (Maoist Centre) dissolved their central committees on 17 May 2018 and the new party was formed on the same day. Khadga Prasad Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal would serve as joint chairmen of the party until a general convention was held. The party also named its Standing Committee consisting of 26 members of the former UML and 19 members of the former Maoist Centre on 12 June 2018. The provincial committees of the party were finalized on 4 December 2018. The district committees were finalized on 22 April 2019, and the district in-charges were appointed on 22 July 2019.

Internal conflict

In a party secretariat meeting on 21 August 2019, senior leader of the party Madhav Kumar Nepal registered a note on dissent regarding the work division in the party and criticizing the two co-chairmen, K.P. Sharma Oli and

, for not completing the merger process sooner. He also criticized Oli for not following the "One Leader, One Position" policy that the party had decided on and called for Oli to either resign as party leader or as prime minister. A meeting of the secretariat on 21 November 2019, the party decided on continuing with two leaders but made Dahal the executive head of the party. The meeting also decided on letting Oli complete his full term as prime minister instead of the agreement between the two leaders to lead the government in turns. The cabinet was also reshuffled after criticisms of the government from within the party. A rift within the party was also formed after some factions in the party did not favor a grant under the

Millennium Challenge Corporation The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a bilateral United States foreign aid agency established by the U.S. Congress in 2004. It is an independent agency separate from the State Department and USAID. It provides grants to countries tha ...

that the government had agreed with the United States government. A task force formed by the party decided on not endorsing the agreement without amendments. Bam Dev Gautam was appointed as the party's vice-chairman after the central committee of the party amended the party statute. Party co-chairman,

and Madhav Kumar Nepal criticized the Oli governments handling of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and leaders within the party urged the senior leadership in the party to call a meeting of the party secretariat to discuss the government work. At the meeting of the party secretariat some leaders called on Oli's resignation but a later meeting decided to allow Oli to after he agreed to work under the party's instructions and let Dahal perform his duties as the party's executive leader. A panel formed by the party to solve the internal dispute proposed that a national convention of the party be held in April 2021 to solve issues regarding the party unity and the proposal was endorsed by the standing committee of the party. Another cabinet reshuffle was done on 16 October 2020 but Oli was criticized by the party for not consulting the party. On 14 November 2020, co-chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal presented a political document at a party secretariat meeting that accused K.P. Sharma Oli of not following the party's directions, unilaterally leading the government and turning a blind eye towards corruption. In response, Oli attacked Dahal for not letting him the government, promoting factionalism and nepotism as well as not letting victims of the

Nepalese Civil War The Nepalese Civil War was a protracted armed conflict that took place in the then Kingdom of Nepal from 1996 to 2006. It saw countrywide fighting between the Kingdom rulers and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), with the latter making ...

get justice.

Vertical split

On 20 December 2020, K.P. Sharma Oli called on President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to dissolve the

and call for fresh elections. In an address to the nation, Oli said he dissolved the house after the party had not let him work as prime minister and that a no-confidence motion was being prepared against him from within the party. The decision was met with criticism from within the party and seven ministers close to the Dahal–Nepal faction in his cabinet resigned in protest. K.P. Oli called a meeting of the central committee of the leaders in the party close to him and added 556 members to the existing 446-member committee of the party. The new central committee was to organize a party unity convention in November 2021. The meeting also removed Narayan Kaji Shrestha as party spokesperson and replaced him with Pradeep Gyawali. The Dahal–Nepal faction of the party also organized its own central committee meeting with 310 members of the original central committee and replaced K.P. Oli as party co-chairman with Madhav Kumar Nepal. The meeting also decided to protest against the government to restore the House of Representatives.

Election Commission registry

The party got registered with the Election Commission of Nepal on 7 June 2018 under the name Nepal Communist Party (NCP) after the Election Commission of Nepal refused to register the new party as another party called

Nepal Communist Party The Nepal Communist Party, abbreviated NCP (, ) was a communist party in Nepal that existed from 2018 to 2021. It was founded on 17 May 2018, from the unification of two Left-wing politics, leftist parties, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified M ...

was already registered, the latter being a small group led by Rishi Kattel. Kattel challenged the Election Commission decision at the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. As a reference to the NCP's registration, the party became colloquially known as the NCP double. Following the split between the Oli and Dahal-Nepal factions, the Election Commission declined to recognize neither faction as the legitimate holders of the NCP's registration. On 8 March 2021, Nepal's Supreme Court stated that the allocation of the name ''Nepal Communist Party'' upon the merger of the CPN (UML) and CPN (Maoist Centre), and by extension the merger itself, was void ''ab initio'', as the name was already allotted to the party led by Kattel, and that the NCP stood "dismissed". Upon the ruling, the two predecessor parties were revived in their original state immediately prior to the merger, although should the two wish to merge again with proper procedure being followed, that it would be fully allowed.

Ideology

As part of the original merger agreement, the party's ideology consisted of

Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism () is a communist ideology that became the largest faction of the History of communism, communist movement in the world in the years following the October Revolution. It was the predominant ideology of most communist gov ...

and support for a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional ...

in Nepal, while the party itself remains officially

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

and governed by

democratic centralism Democratic centralism is the organisational principle of most communist parties, in which decisions are made by a process of vigorous and open debate amongst party membership, and are subsequently binding upon all members of the party. The co ...

. The party also favors socialism-oriented people's democracy in the short-term that would eventually lead into communism.

Organization and structure

Central organization

Secretariat

A nine-member Secretariat (also known as High Command) of the party was created. It included: * Chairperson: KP Sharma Oli and

* General Secretary:

Bishnu Prasad Paudel Bishnu Prasad Paudel () is a Nepalese politician, who is the vice-chairman of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist). Paudel served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal, Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance (Nepal), Minis ...

* Members: Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal, Bamdev Gautam, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Ishwor Pokhrel, Ram Bahadur Thapa.

Politburo

A 135-member politburo was formed after the formation of the standing committee and central committee.

Standing Committee

The 45-member Standing Committee of the Central Political Bureau included 26 members from CPN (UML) and 19 from CPN (Maoist Centre).

Central Committee

The central committee had a total of 441 members, including 241 from

, and 200 from

Lower-level organizations

* Provincial committees: 151-member committee for each of the seven

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

* District committees: 77-member committee for each of the 77

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

* Metropolitan committees * Sub-metropolitan committees * Municipal committees * Rural municipal committees * Ward committees

Federal government

Presence in various provinces

Leadership

Party leadership

Chairmen *

, 2018–2021 Prachanda 2009

, 2018–2021 Vice-chairmen * Bam Dev Gautam, 2019–2021 General secretaries *

, 2018–2021

List of prime ministers

Provincial governments

In 2020, NCP headed the provincial governments in Province No. 1, Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpahschim provinces.

Breakaway factions

Notes

References

{{Maoism 2018 establishments in Nepal Organisations based in Kathmandu Political parties established in 2018 Political parties disestablished in 2021 Formerly ruling communist parties Defunct communist parties in Nepal 2021 disestablishments in Nepal