Opinion

Formation of the government and public concerns

- Dharmendra Bastola

As seen unexpected by many people, our glorious party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has formed government, a national coalition government. Many other political developments had taken place as miracles, as Chairman Prachanda usually says. There was less hope to many people that the CA election would take place. Similarly, there was not much hope that the CA would have announced the implementation of the Democratic Republic of Nepal. The ousting of the king from the palace, the expropriation of the palace property and putting them for the public welfare were also challenges. But all these works have been done miraculously.

Along with these miraculous developments, some public concerns are mounting up. Questions are being raised from different quarters what will be future of Nepal, while the political interventions are constantly imposed from different power centres. How will the PLA be fused with the Nepal Army? What will be the future of the government itself while the second largest Party the Nepal Congress is at the opposition? Similarly, what will be the fate of the new constitution to be written while the parliamentary parties are divided?  Moreover, the revolutionary people have concern about the fate of the proletarian revolution, the political power in the hands of the people and the exercise of the dictatorship of the proletariat having smashed the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.

The Central Committee meeting will have to answer all these questions in the coming CC meeting. There are many factors for the political confusions being realised in the Nepalese Revolutionary Movement. In spite of the New Democratic Revolution being a minimum programme, our party had put forward a tactical line of round table conference, interim government and the election of the constituent assembly in the second national Conference held in 2001 to accomplish the principal task of the NDR. These tactical lines have now been accomplished along with the abolition of the monarchy and the establishing of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. Since the tactical line set out by the second conference has been accomplished along with the CA election, and the new tactic is still not developed, the Party is making round and round around the formation of the government and the argument automatically witch on to writing of the new constitution. While the following consequence is provoked by the preceding actions much closer towards gradually replacing strategy with pragmatic solutions, concerns are raised whether the tactic gradually eats up strategy.

There is another factor why the political stagnation is taking place. In a certain historical necessity, a 12-point agreement was reached with the parliamentary parties. That agreement had served to fulfil the tactics set out in 2001. But the agreement itself had limitations. For instance, the final goal of the agreement was to abolish monarchy and establish Democratic Republic of Nepal. Along with the abolition of the monarchy and the establishing of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the validity of the agreement has also been finished. While there is no tactical line of the Party to guide the masses to determine how to advance towards revolutionary movement, and while the validity of the 12-point agreement terminated along with the fulfilment of demands it raised, there are a lot confusions being created how to handle many contradictions emerged up.

The central Committee meeting will have to address some important theoretical questions, being faced by the Nepalese people. These questions are, for instance, what are the principal contradiction and the principal aspect of the contradiction, what will be the relation between the Party and the government, what is the difference between the state and the government. How will the proletariat fulfil the proletarian internationalist duty of accomplishing revolution in own country and assisting this kind of revolution, this kind of revolutionary line to other country? How will the party be consolidated around the Revolutionary head quarter that brought Nepalese history to a new by smashing the old reactionary one. These questions are being serious and observed keenly by the revolutionary Nepalese masses of people.

As Marx pointed once, “a forceful revolution engenders a forceful counter revolution”, Nepalese revolutionary movement too, cannot remain immune of these problems. Along with the entrance into the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the PLA is placed into the cantonment many compromises have been made with the parliamentary parties in order to find political solution of the civil war in the country. It was declared that the armed struggle had been ended up, people’s courts were terminated, people’s governments were dismissed. While these activities were performed and with the subsequent political developments taken place, we had told to the people that new governments will be formed in the local levels. But the days remained tougher to forge coalition governments and yet the local governments are not developed. This shows the class struggle as vigorous as it was in the time of armed struggle.

We have been saying that we are advancing through new practice! We have been saying that we are standing on new ground. It is true that we are on new ground. But, it is because that we have to advance through twist and turns. But, at the same time, we are also coming to the old ground, because there are many experiences performed in the past in the International Communist Movement. At this point, there are two negative pictures in the horizon, one Libya, the symbol of entire capitulation after taking into power, and the Chile and  Indonesia the symbol of total massacre and wipe out of the revolutionaries. This situation developed in the mean time, provides further fertile ground to the right opportunism and petty bourgeoisie liberalism in and outside the party. Thus, the major dander today is right opportunism, which our CC meeting had concluded few months before.

As Lenin said, “Correctness or otherwise in the political line determines every thing”, the correctness of line of our party under the leadership of Chairman Prachanda brought the country into a new historical juncture. Our Party achieved PLA from nothing, the people’s political power as well, as Mao said, “you get everything you do not have”. Nevertheless, the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Philosophy and the guidance of Prachanda Path teaches us that once being correct cannot be a red licence to be correct forever.

The obvious encirclement of the status quoits, the regressive, and the backward forces against the revolution and the revolutionary process is quite dangerous. These elements are provoking conflict against peace and stability. The symptoms of provocation have been seen repeatedly against the issue of making fusion of the PLA and the NA. While he had set out to visit China, Chairman Prachanda appealed the jawans of the Nepal Army to forget the bitter history in the past and come forward to the new understanding. However, our Party is making efforts to develop a political harmony between the PLA and the NA, and get united for national integrity; people’s sovereignty and economic prosperity, there are parliamentary forces twisting the course towards conflict.

These all challenges are serious. And, as certain historical juncture give raise of certain historical challenges, the CC of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) will find solutions. Hence, not only the Nepalese masses are watching over curiously the upcoming CC meeting of our Party, but also the people of the world over.

Writer is a central committee member of CPN (Maoist).