Nepal Communist Party

On 3 October 2017, the two major communist parties, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) along with the Naya Shakti Party announced a coalition for the upcoming legislative and provincial election. The three parties also announced plans for unification following the election with the formation of a Unification Coordination Committee.[13][14][15] On 14 October 2017, Naya Shakti Party broke from the alliance citing differences with the two parties.[16] The alliance between the two parties won a majority in the House of Representatives and in six of the seven provincial assemblies.[17][18] Following the elections, it was decided that CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) would get chief ministers in Province No. 1, Province No. 3, Province No. 4 and Province No. 5, and CPN (Maoist Centre) would get chief ministers in Province No. 6 and Province No. 7.[19] The party also won a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.[20][21] Following the formation of the Federal Parliament of Nepal, parliamentary party leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), Khadga Prasad Oli was sworn in as Prime Minister on 15 February 2018.[22][23] 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,[24] but the unification was put on hold citing insufficient time to sort out remaining issues.[25]

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.[26][27][28] The party changed its name to Nepal Communist Party (NCP) after the Election Commission of Nepal refused to register the new party as another party called Communist Party of Nepal was already registered the commission.[29][30] The party officially got registered with the Election Commission on 7 June 2018.[31] 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.[32] The provincial committees of the party was finalized on 4 December 2018.[33][34] The district committees were finalized on 22 April 2019,[35][36] and the district in-charges were appointed on 22 July 2019.[37][38]

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-chairmans, K.P. Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, 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.[39][40][41] 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.[42][43] The cabinet was also reshuffled after criticisms of the government from within the party.[44][45][46] A rift within the party was also formed after some factions in the party did not favor a grant under the Millennium Challenge Corporation that the government had agreed with the United States government.[47][48] A task force formed by the party decided on not endorsing the agreement without amendments.[49][50]

Bam Dev Gautam was appointed as the party's vice-chairman after the central committee of the party amended the party statute.[51] Party co-chairman, Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal criticized the Oli governments handling of the COVID-19 pandemic 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.[52][53] 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.[54][55] 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.[56][57] Another cabinet reshuffle was done on 16 October 2020 but Oli was criticized by the party for not consulting the party.[58]

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.[59] 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 get justice.[60][61]

On 20 December 2020, K.P. Sharma Oli called on President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to dissolve the House of Representatives and call for fresh elections.[62] 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.[63] 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.[64]

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 on November 2021. The meeting also removed Narayan Kaji Shrestha as party spokesperson and replaced him with Pradeep Gyawali.[65][66] These changes were denied by the Election Commission.[67]

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. However Election Commissio] denied these changes as well.[68] The meeting also decided to protest against the government to restore the House of Representatives[67][69]

A nine-member Secretariat (also known as High Command) of the party has been created. It includes:

• Chairperson: KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal
• General Secretary: Bishnu Prasad Paudel
• Members: Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal, Bamdev Gautam, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Ishwor Pokhrel, Ram Bahadur Thapa.[71]

A 135-member politburo will be formed after the formation of the standing committee and central committee.[72]

The 45-member Standing Committee of the Central Political Bureau includes 26 members from CPN (UML) and 19 from CPN (Maoist Centre).[73]

The central committee has a total of 441 members, including 241 from Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), and 200 from Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre).[10]

• Provincial committees: 151-member committee for each of the seven provinces[73]
• District committees: 77-member committee for each of the 77 districts[72]
• Metropolitan committees[72]
• Sub-metropolitan committees[72]
• Municipal committees[72]
• Rural municipal committees[72]
• Ward committees[72]

• KP Sharma Oli, 2018–present
• Pushpa Kamal Dahal, 2018–present

• Bam Dev Gautam, 2019–present

• Bishnu Prasad Paudel, 2018–present