by Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post, July 30, 2023
The CPN (Maoist Centre), the third-largest party in the federal parliament, currently helms the coalition government with the backing of the Nepali Congress, the largest party, while the second-largest, the CPN-UML, remains outside the government. But Maoist leaders say the party’s increased emphasis on governance has left its organisation in a mess.

As the organisational base of the party continues to erode, the Maoist Centre has been exploring ways to stay afloat.

“Our organisational base has been on the decline but the leaders don’t seem to be bothered,” said an office bearer of the party, asking not to be named. “We need to seriously think about it.”

However, the party is failing to keep its support base intact as it is currently focused on making and breaking governments, while all other political parties have concentrated their energy on strengthening their organisations.

In this backdrop, the party is set to convene its central committee meeting on August 2 after a gap of more than six months. Around 700 leaders are expected to participate in the meeting. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the party chair, who returned home on Friday after a five-day visit to Italy, is likely to start consultations on the meeting.

There is disorder in the Maoist party due to its faulty policies and programmes, said a central committee member, asking not to be named. “We are excessively focused on one election after another as if elections are everything, while those focusing on organisational development are not properly evaluated.”

General Secretary Dev Prasad Gurung also admitted that the party has failed to give due priority to its organisational activities due to its continuous involvement in governments.

“It’s obvious that the party leading the government cannot devote equal attention to organisational matters,” Gurung told the Post. “But this is just a matter of a specific situation.”

According to Gurung, the meeting of around 700 leaders will discuss various reports, including contemporary politics, organisational reports, financial reports and the party’s work plan, besides evaluating the performances of the governments and the party’s role in the government and parliaments.

The party has 385 central committee members plus around 200 alternative central members. Office bearers of the party’s provincial committees will also attend the meeting.

Although party leaders are encouraged by the government’s crackdown on corruption including the fake Bhutanese refugees scam, Lalita Niwas land grab scam and the seizure of around a quintal of smuggled gold from Kathmandu, they claim these steps alone will not help the Maoist Centre garner more votes in the upcoming polls.

“How did those government actions affect the daily lives of people?” asked a party office bearer, who is unhappy with the way the party is being run. “I don’t think these incidents will help the party in the upcoming polls although it may benefit some leaders of the party.”

Party secretary Ganesh Sah said the office bearers have been assigned to prepare reports for presentation at the central committee meeting.

“The government’s actions have sent a positive message to the people and now the party should focus on strengthening the organisation,” Sah said. “Though the people are happy with the government, our party cadres are not.”

He said the party organisations are bloated with leaders, but the cadre base is shrinking. “It’s a matter of serious concern. Moreover, most of the leaders are expecting personal benefits from the government.”

To make preparations for the central committee meeting, the party’s senior vice-chair and deputy prime minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha convened a meeting of office bearers on Wednesday. Leaders at the meeting complained that decisions were being made on an ad hoc basis and called for a more institutional approach to decision-making.

To safeguard his government, Prime Minister Dahal has recently formed a Socialist Front, which includes Madhav Nepal’s CPN (Unified Socialist), Upendra Yadav’s Janata Samajbadi Party and Netra Bikram Chand’s Communist Party of Nepal. Party insiders said the front’s major purpose was to keep the existing coalition intact and by extension save the government. They argued that if the front were a genuine socialist initiative, it would have included former Maoist ideologue Baburam Bhattarai, who now heads the Socialist Party of Nepal.

Though the Maoist Centre is yet to finalise the agenda for the central committee meeting, its leaders said the government’s performance and the party’s declining organisational base is likely to dominate the discussions.
https://kathmandupost.com/politics/2023/07/30/dwindling-cadre-base-worries-leaders-of-ruling-maoist-centre