Shrinking intra-party democracy is a threat to the nascent republic of Nepal

The general conventions of the CPN-UML and Nepali Congress reelected former party chairs for the next tenure while the CPN-Maoist Centre concluded its convention handpicking the central committee members by the party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The committee chose Dahal as the chairman again . No cadres in the party got a feeling that intra-party democracy was present there.

The timely intra-party election is the skeleton for intra-party democracy in any political party. An open and meticulous discussion on the party’s ideological orientation and vision for the country’s prosperity and evaluation of its set strategies for the achievement of the same makes the party ideologically vibrant. This is what intra-party democracy means. In contrast, the lack of debates on the ideological direction of the parties within CPN-UML and Nepal Congress’ conventions signals the pertinent ideological crisis within the parties. The Maoist Centre somehow discussed the issues, but it also could not show an example of intra-party democracy. Hence, the recent trends are a threat to the nascent republic of Nepal.