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Kathmandu Saturday February 16, 2002 Falgun 04, 2058.
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Joy in communist circles as UML, ML finally
merge
By Tilak Pokharel
KATHMANDU, Feb 15: At the same City Hall of the capital where
leader Bam Dev Gautam had announced their split four years ago, the two prominent
communist parties of the country – CPN-UML and CPN-ML – finally merged today.
When the announcer, Standing Committee member of the main
opposition CPN-UML, Ishwor Pokharel, read out the formal announcement of reunion, all
present inside and outside the premises of the City Hall burst into joyous applause.
"Respecting the interest and sentiment of the
progressive forces, we—the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) and
the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist)—announce our formal unification from
today," said a joint statement undersigned by the two General Secretaries of the
parties, Madhav Kumar Nepal and Bam Dev Gautam.
The nine-point unification statement said the unified party
will, in the days ahead, be guided by the principles of the People’s Multiparty
Democracy propounded by late general secretary Madan Bhandari. "We will abide by the
decisions and political programmes approved by the Sixth National Convention of the
CPN-UML, and we agree that the Sixth National Convention is the highest institution of the
unified party," the statement added.
Following the unification, the joint declaration says that
all the organisational structures of the unified party from the central to the
primary-level, will be restructured and the party responsibilities will be handed over to
the cadres based on their competence.
Earlier today, leaders of the CPN-ML formally notified the
Election Commission to remove the party’s name and its election symbol from the list
of the national parties. Although the CPN-UML could not win any seats in the parliamentary
elections held in 1999, the party could garner six per cent of the popular votes, and
emerged as the third largest party in the country.
Four years ago, a faction of the CPN-UML, led by Bam Dev
Gautam, split from the parent party and formed the CPN-ML. One of the major causes behind
the separation, as both sides say, was the controversial Mahakali Treaty, ratified by a
two-thirds majority of the Parliament on September 20, 1996. The other prominent issue was
the CPN-UML’s political stance regarding India and the USA.
It was the same City Hall, where Bam Dev Gautam announced the
split and formed the CPN-ML in 1998. More than 40 lawmakers from both houses of parliament
had switched sides to Gautam, securing the required 40 per cent for the split.
The Integrated Treaty on the Sharda Barrage, the Tanakpur
Barrage and the Pancheshwor High Dam Project—popularly known as the Mahakali Treaty—was
ratified by a two-thirds majority of both the houses of parliament.
Minutes before the parliament ratified the treaty, 26 UML
lawmakers, led by Gautam and CP Mainali, had walked out of the voting. Two of the UML
lawmakers–Padma Ratna Tuladhar and Hiranya Lal Shrestha–went to the extent of
voting against the treaty, defying the party whip. The dissenting faction was of the
opinion that the four major issues related with the Mahakali Treaty be first settled
before the ratification of the treaty.
The four major issues included resolving the Kalapani dispute
between Nepal and India, settling the border dispute along the Mahakali River, equal
sharing of water from the Mahakali River, and the price of the power to be sold by Nepal
to India after the proposed Pancheswor Project comes into effect.
In the run-up to the unification, both the parties had
earlier agreed to include 14 central committee members from the CPN-ML in the UML central
committee after the unification. Among them, three are to be accommodated in the Standing
Committee. Sahana Pradhan, Gautam and Radha Krishna Mainali of the defunct CPN-ML are the
ones who will become members of the UML Standing Committee. Eight will be included in the
central committee, and three others are likely to be given the portfolio of ‘alternative
membership’ in the unified party.
Rest of the central committee members of the defunct CPN-ML
will be accommodated in the UML’s National Council. The joint statement agrees that
the National Council members will automatically become the representatives of the 7th
National Convention to be held next year.
The dissolved CPN-ML also decided to merge all its
organisations and sister organisations with the UML.
Addressing the packed City Hall, Gautam confessed that he had
made a serious mistake by breaking away from the UML. "I concede that I really made a
big mistake. But it was a compulsion on our part," he said. "I could have tried
to find out other options rather than breaking away from the UML where I had spent many
years of my life."
"When the UML split took place, only the ML leaders and
its cadres were happy, but the country was ruing and the people were weeping," a
sombre-looking Gautam said. Months after the split, the UML leaders had publicly branded
Gautam as "number one corrupt" from the open air theatre at Tundikhel. It
further increased their distance.
But by last year, both the parties realised the need to
merge, and initiated negotiations. And they constituted dialogue teams six months ago.
Currently, from the dissolved ML side, there are 10 District
Development Committee (DDC) chairmen, almost 15 DDC vice-chairmen and hundreds of DDC and
VDC members across the country, according to Gautam.
Speaking on the occasion, UML General Secretary, Madhav Kumar
Nepal, said the party will now become established as an alternative force in the country.
"The UML will stand as the force alternative to left extremists and
reactionaries," Nepal said.
Chastising the Maoist ideology and the violence it
propogates, Nepal said that left extremism has become the greatest barrier to the
political, economic and social development of the country. He also warned that the party
will take action against any party member who makes derogatory remarks against the
unification.
List of Central Committee members from CPN-ML
Standing Committee members
1. Sahana Pradhan
2. Bam Dev Gautam
3. Radha Krishna Mainali
Central Committee members
1. Siddi Lal Singh
2. Ashok Rai
3. Sita Nandan Raya
4. Kiran Gurung
5. Gopal Shakya
6. Trilochan Dhakal
7. Rajendra Shrestha
8. Kamal Chaulagain
Alternative members
1. Hem Raj Rai
2. Kamal Koirala
3. Yogendra Shah
A tragedy, says CP
...meanwhile, CP Mainali, Standing Committee member of the
defunct CPN-ML, stuck to his opposition to the ML-UML merger, and in a statement today
said that he along with some other colleagues, will soon be forging a new party. He called
the ML-UML merger a "tragic event".
"We will soon be under a new party mechanism and will
salvage the CPN-ML and lead it," the statement said. The guiding doctrine of the new
party will be Marxism-Leninism, he said.
But, while speaking at the unification ceremony, both Bam Dev
Gautam and Madhav Kumar Nepal, requested Mainali to come to the mainstream and join the
reunited CPN-UML.
Joining hands with Mainali are two central committee members
of the dissolved CPN-ML—Jit Bir Lama and Rishi Kattel.
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