Kathmandu, October 30
CPN-UML Chair KP Sharma Oli has directed party members to prepare for a protest movement, arguing that the party can regain strength and win upcoming elections only through street mobilisation.
Speaking at a programme organised at the party’s central office in Chyasal on Wednesday, Oli said the country was in a difficult situation and that the party had no alternative but to prepare for a movement.
“The situation is so difficult that if we try to move forward through anything other than a movement, or lack the courage to launch one, we cannot succeed,” Oli said. “A movement will sustain us, move us forward and help us win.”
Oli argued that protests had become necessary because, in his assessment, the country was witnessing a state of lawlessness. He urged party members to prepare mentally and organisationally, whether protests began immediately or after the Tihar and Chhath festivals.
“We have reached a helpless situation where we cannot exercise our freedom. We have no alternative but to move forward in a protest-oriented manner. Whether now or later, after Tihar and Chhath, we must be mentally prepared and keep making preparations internally,” he said.
This is not the first time Oli has threatened to launch a movement. Since the UML lost power following the Gen Z protests and suffered a heavy defeat in the March 5 election, he has repeatedly spoken of changing the country’s political course through street protests.
The statements mark a shift from Oli’s position during his four terms as prime minister over the past decade, when he often declared that the era of political movements was over and focused his speeches on prosperity.
Now, however, Oli says there is no alternative to a movement.
A mandate from the central committee
UML Publicity Department chief Niraj Acharya said Oli’s remarks reflected decisions made by the party’s central committee.
“The central committee has endorsed the task of launching a movement to protect the constitution and democracy, as the government is moving towards fascism,” Acharya said. “The chair was informing party members about that responsibility.”
The UML central committee meeting held in early October at Bhanimandal in Lalitpur endorsed an 88-page political document presented by Oli. One of the two major tasks outlined in the document is to prepare for a protest movement.
“We must keep ourselves prepared for a decisive movement to restore democracy,” the document states. “If justice cannot be obtained easily, it must be established through people’s power.”
The document argues at length that democracy has been pushed into crisis following the Gen Z protests. It particularly points to the dissolution of the House of Representatives after the protests as a threat to the democratic system.
Oli has also been awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on a case filed by the UML challenging the dissolution and demanding the restoration of the dissolved House.
“The case we filed at the Supreme Court against the unconstitutional dissolution of the House of Representatives and demanding its restoration is still sub judice,” Oli wrote in the document. “We are waiting for justice, but justice is being delayed.”
The document suggests that the party should prepare to mobilise people if the judiciary fails to deliver justice. Oli’s recent public statements have continued to reinforce that position.
Addressing a programme in Chyasal on Wednesday to administer the oath of office to nominated central committee members, Oli also rejected the outcome of the March 5 election.
“The last election was not an election at all. It was the second episode in a journey towards regression, a planned sequence. It was not an election; it was a doorway,” he said.
Oli claimed that the atmosphere necessary for a genuine election had not been created, adding that people had been unable to speak freely.
Although opposition parties are expected to criticise the government, Oli’s rejection of the election result and warnings of a movement to reverse the political course have drawn attention within political circles. His remarks have also attracted interest because the UML is preparing to convene a national gathering of party cadres.
The party is preparing for the gathering on November 18–19. At a preparatory meeting in Chyasal on Tuesday, UML Secretary and Organisation Department chief Bhanubhakta Dhakal said more than 3,000 people were expected to participate.
Party leaders, however, say the planned gathering and Oli’s statements about a protest movement are separate matters.
According to one UML leader, the gathering is intended to prepare the organisation for the upcoming local and provincial assembly elections.
“The local and provincial elections are approaching, and the gathering is being organised to prepare for them,” the leader said. “As for the chair’s warning about a movement, there is no consensus within the party on that issue yet.”
The gathering is expected to include central committee members, members of central bodies, provincial office-bearers, district-level office-bearers, leaders of sister organisations, municipal chairpersons and vice-chairpersons, and elected representatives from all levels.
Oli has described preparations for the local and provincial elections as the party’s second major task. There is no reported disagreement within the UML over that objective.
Disagreement within the UML
There is no consensus within the UML on Oli’s position that the party should use people’s power to reverse the political course if it fails to obtain justice from the courts.
Several office-bearers and a substantial number of central committee members expressed dissent during the central committee meeting at Bhanimandal.
Vice-chairpersons Prithvi Subba Gurung, Gokarna Bista and Raghuji Panta, along with Deputy General Secretary Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai, argued that the party should not launch a movement aimed at rejecting the election results. Leaders Agni Kharel, Karna Thapa, Thakur Gaire, Rachana Khadka and Jhapata Rawal also supported this position.
Gurung, who had long been a close ally of Oli, argued that restoring the dissolved House should not be the agenda of a protest movement.
“We can raise our voices against corruption and take to the streets over issues affecting people’s livelihoods,” Gurung said. “But trying to reverse the political course would be counterproductive.”
Vice-chairperson Bista called for the protest programme to be withdrawn.
“Coming up with a proposal to launch a movement to restore the House of Representatives eight months after suffering defeat, without participating in the election, is inappropriate in terms of political ethics, justification and relevance,” Bista said. “It could be suicidal and destructive for the party.”
Another vice-chairperson, Panta, said UML lawmakers should resign before the party considered launching such a movement.
“If we are to launch a movement, all the lawmakers we currently have should resign first. Only then can we consider it,” Panta said.
Other leaders who opposed the proposed movement argued that the party should not take a course that would damage its image as a defender of democracy.
“We argued that it was morally and politically wrong to say an election was not an election simply because we lost it,” a central committee member said.
According to party leaders, General Secretary Shankar Pokharel is also opposed to a movement aimed at rejecting the election results and reversing the political course. He has reportedly told close associates that such a move could further weaken the party.
“Cadres themselves do not seem to be in the mood for a movement, and it does not look as though other people are ready either,” a leader close to Pokharel said.
According to the leader, those advocating party reorganisation are not in favour of the proposed movement.
These leaders had sought to reorganise the party and replace Oli, following suggestions received from across the country. However, Oli did not allow the report of the UML reorganisation task force to move forward and secured the central committee’s endorsement of his political document, which includes the protest programme.
He has continued to reiterate the document’s conclusions in his public remarks.
UML Secretary Dr Rajan Bhattarai, meanwhile, said the party had yet to make a concrete decision on launching a movement.
“We will certainly resist steps that go against the people, but no concrete decision has been made on how we will proceed,” Bhattarai said.
