Party Building In Nepal: Organization, Leadership and People (A Comparative Study of the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal)(Unified Marxist-Leninist)

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Nepali political parties have recently stepped into a new phase of party building. With the restoration of democracy in 1990, political parties, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal, Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) in particular, have undergone a number of distinct transformations: from illegal organizations to legitimate contenders for political power; from movement or underground organizations to open competitive parties: from cadre based to mass based parties; from a small group of people sharing common interests to heterogeneous organizations consisting of people of diverse interests; and, from ideology oriented organizations to power seeking parties. These transformations followed the changes in the parties' goals and activities and began acquiring new characteristics i.c. growth in size, expansion and diversification of organizational structures and networks, de-ideologization, increase in divisive tendencies, delinking from the mass of the people, erosion in leaders' popularity and authority, use of state power and resources for parties' interests, patronage distribution to parties' clients etc. Some of these new characteristics match with the three important properties of party building-public support, organizational efficiency and functional effectiveness. The whole gamut of party building efforts made by the NC and the CPN-UML in the post-1990 period can be assessed on the basis of four variables-expansion, system, harmony, and dynamism as indicators of the party building process in Nepal.

The postscript deals with the second transformation of the NC and CPN-UML in the changed context of the conflict transformation of the Maoist insurgency (1996-2006), demise of monarchy in 2008 and the promulgation of the new constitution in September 2015.

Dr. Krishna Hachhethu is Professor of Political Science, now a faculty member of Central Department of Political Science, Tribhuvan University. In addition to publications of over seven dozen research-based articles in academic journals and edited books, published from Nepal and abroad, he is the author and editor of a total 16 books. His single author books include Parry Building in Nepal... (Mandala Book Point, 2002), State of Democracy in Nepal: Survey Report (SDSAN/International IDEA), State Building in Nepal: Creating a Functional State (ESP, 2009), Citizen Survey 2013: Nepal in Transition (International IDEA, 2013) and Trajectory of Democracy in Nepal (Adroit, 2015). His new book now in process of publication is Nation-Building and Federalism in Nepal: Contentions on Framework.

Some of the books that Dr. Hachhethu contributed as co-author or co-editor are: [with Partha Chatterji et al] Social Science Research Capacity in South Asia (Social Science Research Council, 2002), [with Peter. R deSouza et al] State of Democracy in South Asia (Oxford University Press, 2008), (with David Gellner]. Local Democracy in South Asia: Microprocesses of Democratisation in Nepal and its Neighbours (Sage. 2008), and [with Lokraj Baral] South Asta: Nation Building and Federalism (Vij Books India Pvt Ltd., 2014). Prof. Hachhethu was visiting scholar to Oxford University in 2005. He is former member of the High Level Commission for Recommendation of State Restructuring of Nepal. He is the country coordinator of the South Asia Democracy Study network.

The restoration of democracy in 1990 was a milestone for the revival of party politics in Nepal. Ten years have passed since political parties started operating as the dominant actors of Nepali politics. But this area caught little attention among the scholars of Nepali politics. A comparative study on two major political parties of Nepal, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal, Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), is therefore, very significant. These are two dominating parties representing two different ideologies: the NC is a liberal democratic party but with a socialist trademark, and the CPN UML is a communist party but with allegiance to multiparty democracy. This study tries to give a new perspective and it represents a new genre of studying Nepali politics.

The book, originated as a Ph.D. dissertation in title of "Party Building in Nepal: The Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist)" from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Tribhuvan University, is based on both archival research and field study. A wide range of research tools and techniques were applied in collecting primary and secondary information relating to the party building process of these two parties. The fieldwork was carried out over a period of seven months between February 1995 through December 1996. Besides, a week long pilot survey was conducted in Nuwakot district in November 1994. Approximately one month devoted in each of the six sample districts- Dhankuta, Dhanusha, Kathmandu, Tanahu, Bardiya and Bajhang. These districts were selected through applying purposive sampling method but taking into consideration the need to make this study broadly representative of different development regions, ecological zones, caste/ethnic/tribal groups, and political parties.

The results of the 1991 general elections and the 1992 local elections were the basis for justifying the choice of areas for field study. Accordingly the NC has/had strongholds in Dhanusha, Tanahu and Bajhang districts and the CPN-UML was popular in Dhankuta, Kathmandu and Bardiya. Other factors were also considered in choosing sample districts. In terms of development region, the sample areas are representative in that Dhankuta, Dhanusha and Kathmandu, Tanahu, Bardiya, and Bajhang belong to the Eastern, Central, Western, Mid Western and Far-Western regions respectively.

Development of political parties in Nepal over the last seven decades can be traced along three stages: party formation, party survival and party building. The years between 1930-60 could be considered as the formative phase of political parties in Nepal. Unlike the evolution of political parties in the West as a consequence of the extension of popular suffrage and the rise of parliament, Nepali political parties were rather suddenly created by the educated middle class as an instrument for bringing in democracy. So the genesis of political parties in Nepal was bound up with the democratic movement.

Nepali political parties originated in the early-1930s and 1940s against the background of Asian resurgence and in opposition to the Rana oligarchy in the country. Except the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN)- formed in 1949- which borrowed the ready-made ideology of Marxism and Leninism, most political parties, at the time of their formation, did not appear as ideological groups though they had a clear mission to overthrow the despotic Rana rule and to establish a democratic system. Since the parties had emerged with a mission they had suffered from the lack of clarity of thought once their mission to bring an end to the Rana regime was fulfilled through the 1950-51 armed revolution. The Nepali Congress party (NC), a dominating party at that time, proclaimed its ideology of "democratic socialism" only in 1956, ten years after its foundation. With the lack of clear policies, principles and programmes in regard to social change and economic development, the activities of political parties in the post-Rana regime were largely concentrated in Kathmandu- the capital of the country- and were manifestly for power politics. Political parties were narrowly understood to be a vehicle for the revolution during the Rana regime and as an instrument of power in the post-Rana period. Their role as institutions for the expression of social and economic interests of the people was largely ignored, and this obstructed the development of their organizational networks at the grass roots level. Had the parties established a strong presence at the grass roots level perhaps they could have countered effectively the December 1960 royal coup by King Mahendra, who dismantled the multiparty system and introduced the partyless panchayat system.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages