Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist)
Encyclopedia
The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), also known as CPN-UML, CPN(UML), is one of the largest communist parties in Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

. It was created on January 6, 1991 through the unification of the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist). CPN (UML) was a product of the Jana Andolan (People's Movement) uprising where communists, together with the Nepali Congress
Nepali Congress
The Nepali Congress is a Nepalese political party. Nepali Congress led the 1950 Democratic Movement which successfully ended the Rana dynasty and allowed commoners to take part in the polity. It again led a democratic movement in 1990, in partnership with leftist forces, to end monarchy and...

, played a major role in the installment of a constitutional democracy in Nepal.

History

The fifth party congress (and the first one after the unification, the four first being of the original Communist Party of Nepal
Communist Party of Nepal
The Communist Party of Nepal was founded in Calcutta, India, on April 29, 1949. CPN was formed to struggle against the autocratic Rana regime, feudalism and imperialism. The founding general secretary was Pushpa Lal Shrestha....

) was held in Kathmandu in January 1993. People's Multiparty Democracy was adopted as the party programme. Madan Bhandari was elected General Secretary and Man Mohan Adhikari
Man Mohan Adhikari
Man Mohan Adhikari was the Prime Minister of Nepal from 1994 to 1995, representing the Communist Party of Nepal . He was the first democratically-elected Communist Party member to be PM in Nepal....

 was elected Chairman. Later the same year Bhandari died in a vehicle incident at Dashdhunga in Chitwan. After Bhandari's death, Madhav Kumar Nepal
Madhav Kumar Nepal
Madhav Kumar Nepal is a Nepali politician who was Prime Minister of Nepal from May 25, 2009 until February 6, 2011. He was nominated as a PM through internal arrangements within the current ruling coaliation government of Nepal. Nepal announced his resignation as Prime Minister on June 30, 2010...

 was elected General Secretary, and he remained in post until 2008.

In December 1994, CPN(UML) formed a minority government, which lasted nine months. Man Mohan Adhikari was elected Prime Minister and Madhav Kumar Nepal became Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1997, CPN(UML) participated in a non-Nepali Congress government, with a faction of the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party
Rashtriya Prajatantra Party
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party is a Nepalese political party. It is a right-wing pro-monarchy party, formed out of the political elite of the erstwhile Panchayat system, formed on 1990, after reestablishment of democracy in Nepal.In 1997 RPP split after the faction led by pro-monarchy politician...

 and the Nepal Sadbhavana Party, and held the Deputy Prime Ministership.

In March 1998, CPN(UML) suffered a severe split over the Mahakali Treaty treaty with India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. Those opposing the treaty broke away and formed Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist)
Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) (1998)
Communist Party of Nepal , a splinter-group from the Communist Party of Nepal formed on March 5, 1998. Sahana Pradhan was the chair of the party and Bam Dev Gautam the general secretary. Within the CPN a power struggle had taken place after the death of Madan Bhandari...

 led by Bam Dev Gautam. The vertical split caused much harm to the party; in the 1999 parliamentary election, CPN(UML) merely got 31.61% of the votes whereas the rival faction only secured 5% of total votes.

On February 15, 2002, CPN(UML) and CPN(ML) were reunited. Following the merger, CPN(ML) leaders Sahana Pradhan
Sahana Pradhan
Sahana Pradhan is a Nepalese politician. She hails from a Newar family in Kathmandu. She resigned as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal on April 16, 2008....

, Bam Dev Gautam
Bam Dev Gautam
Bam Dev Gautam , born July 11, 1944 in Pyuthan District is a senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal...

 and Radha Krishna Mainali
Radha Krishna Mainali
Radha Krishna Mainali is a Nepalese politician. In the early 1970s he was one of the radical communists who led the Jhapa rebellion, inspired by the Naxalite movement in India.R.K. Mainali was imprisoned in 1973, and was not released until 1986...

 were nominated to the standing committee of CPN(UML). Siddhilal Singh, Ashok Rai, Trilochan Dhakal, Kiran Gurung, Gopal Sakya, Kamal Chaulagain, Rajendra Shrestha and Sitananda Raya were appointed full members of the central committee. Kamal Koirala, Hemraj Rai and Yogendra Shas were appointe alternative central committee members.

The 7th general convention of CPN(UML) was held in Janakpur, February 1-February 6, 2003. The convention decided to abolish the post of party chair, a post vacant after the death of Manmohan Adhikari. Madhav Kumar Nepal was re-elected unopposed as General Secretary of the party. The convention elected a Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...

 consisting of Ashok Rai, Jhala Nath Khanal
Jhala Nath Khanal
Jhala Nath Khanal was the 34th Prime Minister of Nepal having taken office in February 2011. He holds the positions of Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal and Leader of the Constituent Assembly Parliamentary Party of the CPN .-Life and early career:Born in Sakhejung in the Ilam District,...

, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Sahana Pradhan
Sahana Pradhan
Sahana Pradhan is a Nepalese politician. She hails from a Newar family in Kathmandu. She resigned as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal on April 16, 2008....

, Madhav Kumar Nepal
Madhav Kumar Nepal
Madhav Kumar Nepal is a Nepali politician who was Prime Minister of Nepal from May 25, 2009 until February 6, 2011. He was nominated as a PM through internal arrangements within the current ruling coaliation government of Nepal. Nepal announced his resignation as Prime Minister on June 30, 2010...

, Subash Nemwang
Subash Nemwang
-References:...

, Modnath Prashrit, Krishna Gopal Shrestha, Amrit Kumar Bohara, Pradeep Nepal, Bam Dev Gautam
Bam Dev Gautam
Bam Dev Gautam , born July 11, 1944 in Pyuthan District is a senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal...

, Yuvraj Gyawali, Rajendra Pandey, Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Astha Laxmi Shakya, Keshab Prasad Badal, K.P. Sharma Oli, Shankhar Pokhrel, Radha Krishna Mainali
Radha Krishna Mainali
Radha Krishna Mainali is a Nepalese politician. In the early 1970s he was one of the radical communists who led the Jhapa rebellion, inspired by the Naxalite movement in India.R.K. Mainali was imprisoned in 1973, and was not released until 1986...

, Pradeep Gyawali, Ishwor Pokhrel, Kashinath Adhikari, Bishnu Poudel, Siddhi Lal Singh, Mukund Neupane, Shanta Manavi, Surendra Pandey, Rajendra Shrestha, Kiran Gurung
Kiran Gurung
Kiran Gurung is a Nepalese politician. He is a Central Committee member of the Communist Party of Nepal . In the 2008 Constituent Assembly election he was elected from the Tanahu-3 constituency, winning 14786 votes....

, Yuv Raj Karki and Raghu Pant, Suresh Karki, Bhim Rawal, Dhanendra Basnet, Hem Raj Rai, Bishnu Rimal, Trilochan Dhakal, Bhim Acharya, Kedar Neupane
Kedar Neupane
Kedar Prasad Neupane is a Nepalese politician. He is a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Nepal .In 1999 he was elected to the Upper House of parliament....

, Urbadutta Pant
Urbadutta Pant
Urbadutta Pant is a Nepalese politician, a Central Committee member of the Communist Party of Nepal . He was elected to the Pratinidhi Sabha in the 1994 election....

, Govinda Prasad Koirala, Gopal Shakya and Ramchandra Jha. 12 alternate members of the Central Committee were also elected: Chabbi Lal Biswokarma, Tul Bahadur Gurung, Urmila Aryal
Urmila Aryal
Urmila Aryal is a Nepalese politician. She is an alternate member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Nepal ....

, Rakam Chemjong, Pashupati Chaulagain, Gokarna Bista, Prakash Jwala, Mahendra Pandey, Naresh Kharel, Ratneswore Goit, Puruswottam Poudel and Ramji Sharma. When King Gyanendra
Gyanendra of Nepal
Gyanendra Shah was the last King of Nepal. During his life, he has held the title of the King twice: first between 1950 and 1951 as a child when his grandfather Tribhuvan was forced into exile in India with the rest of his family; and from 2001 to 2008, following the Nepalese royal massacre.King...

 in 2003 dissolved parliament and sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba
Sher Bahadur Deuba
Sher Bahadur Deuba is a Nepalese politician and former Prime Minister. He is the second senior most leader of the Nepali Congress. He has twice been elected as the leader of parliamentary party of the Nepali Congress, thus enabling him to be elected twice as the Prime Minister of Nepal.He has...

, CPN(UML) took a leading part in the formation of the 5-parties protest movement. However, once Deuba had been reinstalled as Prime Minister, CPN(UML) joined the provisional government. This government was dissolved by Gyanendra in 19th Magh of the same year. In 2006, CPN (UML) was a major part of the Seven Party Alliance
Seven Party Alliance
The Seven Party Alliance was a coalition of seven Nepali political parties seeking to end autocratic rule in the country. They spearheaded the Loktantra Andolan.The alliance was made up of the following parties:* Nepali Congress...

 and the Loktantra Andolan.

Current membership

The 8th general convention of CPN(UML) was held in Butwal
Butwal
Butwal is a large town in southern Nepal in Rupandehi District, in Lumbini Zone -- of which Butwal is the administrative center. It is located 240 kilometres west of Kathmandu and 22 kilometers north of Bhairahawa, at the northern edge of the Terai plain below the Siwalik Hills...

,February, 2009. The election elected Central office-bearers (elected by vote)
  • Chairman: Jhala Nath Khanal
    Jhala Nath Khanal
    Jhala Nath Khanal was the 34th Prime Minister of Nepal having taken office in February 2011. He holds the positions of Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal and Leader of the Constituent Assembly Parliamentary Party of the CPN .-Life and early career:Born in Sakhejung in the Ilam District,...

  • Vice-chairs: Ashok Rai, Bam Dev Gautam and Bidhya Bhandari
  • General Secretary: Ishwar Pokharel
  • Secretaries: Bishnu Poudel, Shankar Pokharel and Yubaraj Gyawali

Central Committee Members

(Note: 85 will be elected as full members, 30 as alternate members. 52 of the total 115 members will be elected under reservation quotas.)

Elected unopposed

Lalit Basnet (Quota/Laborer) – Full
Chudamani Jangali (Quota/Laborer) – Alternate
Urba Dutta Pant (Mahakali Zone) – Full
Netra Panthi (Lumbini Zone) – Full

Elected by vote

Full members

  • Naresh Kharel (Mechi Zone)
  • Rajendra Gautam (Koshi Zone)
  • Jaganath Khatiwada (Sagarmatha Zone)
  • Keshav Prasad Devkota (Janakpur Zone)
  • Devi Prasad Gyawali (Narayani Zone)
  • Pashupati Chaulagain (Bagmati Zone)
  • Yogesh Bhattarai (Kathmandu Valley)
  • Ganesh Timilsina (Dhaulagiri Zone)
  • Khagaraj Adhikari (Gandaki Zone)
  • Prakash Jwala (Rapti Zone)
  • Devraj Bhar (Bheri Zone)
  • Dilli Bahadur Mahat (Karnali Zone)
  • Bhanubhakta Joshi (Seti Zone)
  • Jhillu Prasad Tiwari (India Diaspora)
  • Agni Kharel (Central, Open Competition)
  • Asta Laxmi Sakya (Central, Open Competition)
  • Arun Nepal (Central, Open Competition)
  • Urmila Aryal (Central, Open Competition)
  • Kiran Gurung (Central, Open Competition)
  • KP Sharma Oli (Central, Open Competition)
  • Keshav Badal (Central, Open Competition)
  • Krishna Gopal Shrestha (Central, Open Competition)
  • Gokarna Bista (Central, Open Competition)
  • Guru Baral (Central, Open Competition)
  • Ghanshyam Bhushal (Central, Open Competition)

  • Tul Bahadur Gurung (Central, Open Competition)
  • Pradip Nepal (Central, Open Competition)
  • Pradip Gyawali (Central, Open Competition)
  • Prithivi Subba Gurung (Central, Open Competition)
  • Beduram Bhusal (Central, Open Competition)
  • Bishnu Rimal (Central, Open Competition)
  • Dr Bijaya Kumar Poudel (Central, Open Competition)
  • Binda Pandey (Central, Open Competition)
  • Bharat Mohan Adhikari (Central, Open Competition)
  • Bhanubhakta Dhakal (Central, Open Competition)
  • Bhim Rawal (Central, Open Competition)
  • Mahendra Pandey (Central, Open Competition)
  • Madhav Kumar Nepal (Central, Open Competition)
  • Mukunda Neupane (Central, Open Competition)
  • Rakam Chemjong (Central, Open Competition)
  • Raguji Pant (Central, Open Competition)
  • Raghubir Mahaseth (Central, Open Competition)
  • Rabindra Shrestha (Central, Open Competition)
  • Rajendra Prasad Pandey (Central, Open Competition)
  • Rajendra Prasad Shrestha (Central, Open Competition)
  • Ram Chandra Jha (Central, Open Competition)
  • Sahana Pradahan (Central, Open Competition)
  • Surendra Prasad Pandey (Central, Open Competition)
  • Kalyani Khadka (Quota/Women)
  • Ganga Devi Dangi (Quota/Women)

  • Gaura Prasai (Quota/Women)
  • Jayanti Rai (Quota/Women)
  • Tuka Hamal (Quota/)
  • Thammaya Thapa Magar (Quota/Women)
  • Radha Gyawali (Quota/Women)
  • Srimaya Thakali (Quota/Women)
  • Ganga Lal Tuladhar (Quota/Janajati)
  • Dal Bahadur Rana (Quota/Janajati)
  • Nagendra Chaudhary Tharu (Quota/Janajati)
  • Parshu Ram Meghi Gurung (Quota/Janajati)
  • Bijay Subba (Quota/Janajati)
  • Binod Shrestha (Quota/Janajati)
  • Bir Bahadur Lama (Quota/Janajati)
  • Mahamood Alam (Quota/Muslim)
  • Karna Bahadur Thapa (Quota/Marginalized)
  • Dharmanath Prasad Sah (Quota/Madhesi Tarai)
  • Dr Bamshidhar Mishra (Quota/Madhesi Tarai)
  • Ram Chandra Yadav (Quota/Madhesi Tarai)
  • Lalbabu Pandit (Quota/Madhesi Tarai)
  • Satya Narayan Mandal (Quota/Madhesi Tarai)
  • Chhavi Lal Bishwokarma (Quota/Dalit)
  • Jitu Gautam (Quota/Dalit)
  • Ramprit Paswan (Quota/Dalit)

Alternate members
  • Thakur Gaire (Central, Open Competition)
  • Ajambar Rai Kangbang (Quota/Janajati)
  • Kamal Prakash Sunuwar (Quota/Janajati)
  • Gokul Gharti Magar (Quota/Janajati)
  • Jeevan Ram Shrestha (Quota/Janajati)
  • Bisham Lal Adhikari (Quota/Janajati)
  • Baijnath Choudhary Tharu (Quota/Janajati)
  • Achyut Mainali (Central, Open Competition)
  • Tuk Raj Sigdel (Central, Open Competition)
  • Rameshwor Phuyal (Central, Open Competition)


  • Kalpana Chapagain (Quota/Women)
  • Kamala Subedi (Quota/Women)
  • Garima Shah (Quota/Women)
  • Gauri Oli (Quota/Women)
  • Mamata Giri (Quota/Women)
  • Mahin Limbu (Quota/Women)
  • Sushila Nepal (Quota/Women)
  • Dal Bahadur Sunar (Quota/Dalit)
  • Kamala Devi Mahato (Quota/Madhesi Tarai)
  • Ganga Prasad Yadav (Quota/Madhesi Tarai)


  • Yog Narayan Yadav (Quota/Madhesi Tarai)
  • Ram Chandra Sah Teli (Quota/Madhesi Tarai)
  • Satrughna Mahato (Quota/Madhesi Tarai)
  • Shri Prasad Sah (Quota/Madhesi Tarai)
  • Najir Miya (Quota/Muslim)
  • Gorakh Bahadur Bogati (Quota/Marginalized)
  • Jagat Bishwakarma (Quota/Dalit)
  • Bhagawat Bishwasi Nepali (Quota/Dalit)
  • Rabindra Baitha (Quota/Dalit)


2008 Elections

CPN(UML) advocates a moderate leftist attitude. It played a major role in bringing Maoists to the negotiating table. However, the party has not been able to maintain a firm stance on issues, particularly during drafting the interim constitution, which showed a dual nature of the leadership. For the April 2008 Constituent Assembly election
Nepalese Constituent Assembly election, 2008
A general election for the Constituent Assembly was held in Nepal on 10 April 2008 after having been postponed from earlier dates of 7 June 2007 and 22 November 2007. The Nepalese Constituent Assembly will draft a new constitution; it will therefore decide, amongst other things, on the issue of...

, the party rejected the proposal of electoral alliance with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), citing its own popularity among people, and it decided to compete in all constituencies. It turned out to be a grave mistake, as the CPN(UML) failed to secure a single place out of 10 in the Kathmandu district, once considered to be its lal-killa (लाल किल्ला), or stronghold region. The biggest shock to the party was that General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal was defeated in an election by Jhakku Prasad Subedi
Jhakku Prasad Subedi
Jhakku Prasad Subedi is a Nepalese politician, belonging to the Communist Party of Nepal . He is a teacher by profession.In February 1996 Subedi, then the Chairman of the Rolpa District Development Committee, was arrested. He was released on March 26, 1998...

 of the CPN(M), who had been viewed as having very little popularity. Following his defeat, Madhav Kumar Nepal submitted his resignation from the post of General Secretary of the party, the post he held for 15 years. The CPN (UML) won a total of 103 seats in the election (out of 575 elected seats), placing third behind the CPN (M) and the Nepali Congress. The party left the government after the election, citing the "clear will of the people" expressed through the election as the reason.

2008-present

Following the resignation of M. K. Nepal, the post of General Secretary of the CPN (UML) was filled by Jhala Nath Khanal
Jhala Nath Khanal
Jhala Nath Khanal was the 34th Prime Minister of Nepal having taken office in February 2011. He holds the positions of Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal and Leader of the Constituent Assembly Parliamentary Party of the CPN .-Life and early career:Born in Sakhejung in the Ilam District,...

.

On February 2009, Jhala Nath Khanal has been elected to the Chairman of CPN (UML) by the eighth General Convention of the party organised in Butwal
Butwal
Butwal is a large town in southern Nepal in Rupandehi District, in Lumbini Zone -- of which Butwal is the administrative center. It is located 240 kilometres west of Kathmandu and 22 kilometers north of Bhairahawa, at the northern edge of the Terai plain below the Siwalik Hills...

. Ishwar Pokhrel was elected to the General Secretary
General Secretary
The office of general secretary is staffed by the chief officer of:*The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace, a government agency for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...

.

In early May 2009 the UML joined several parties in leaving the Maoist-led coalition government in response to the sacking of Army Chief of Staff Rookmangud Katawal
Rookmangud Katawal
General Rookmangud Katowal is the ex-Chief of Army Staff of the Nepali Army.-Biography:A graduate of the Indian National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy, he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Nepal's Tribhuwan University and a Masters Degree in National Defence from Pakistan's...

. Following the resulting dissolution of the coalition, the UML now leads its successor.

On February 3, 2011, because of support by the UCPN Maoists, who are the largest force in Nepal's legislature today, Jhala Nath Khanal
Jhala Nath Khanal
Jhala Nath Khanal was the 34th Prime Minister of Nepal having taken office in February 2011. He holds the positions of Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal and Leader of the Constituent Assembly Parliamentary Party of the CPN .-Life and early career:Born in Sakhejung in the Ilam District,...

 was elected Prime Minister of Nepal, securing a vote of 368 out of 601 in the Constituent Assembly.

Mass organizations

  • General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions
    General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions
    The General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions is a confederation of 17 national trade union federations. It is politically tied to the Communist Party of Nepal...

     (GEFONT)
  • Youth Association of Nepal (YAN)
  • All Nepal National Free Students Union
    All Nepal National Free Students Union
    The All Nepal National Free Students Union is a student based organisation in Nepal. The ANNFSU was founded in 1965. The original ANNFSU was later divided along ideological lines, and there are several organisations that emerged out of it. The main ANNFSU grouping today is politically tied to the...

     (ANNFSU)
  • All Nepal Women's Association (ANWA)
  • All Nepal Peasants Association (ANPA)
  • All India Nepalese Free Students Union (AINFSU)
  • National Teachers Association
    National Teachers Association
    National Teachers Association, an organization of teachers in Nepal. NTA is linked to Communist Party of Nepal ....

  • National People's Cultural Forum
  • Democratic National Organization of Person's with Disabilities-Nepal (DNOPD)

External links

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