The UCPN (Maoist) general convention which kicked off in Hetauda on Feb 2 will be a ‘break in continuity’ (krambhanga) in the words of Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. He is partially right. The seventh general convention is expected to go a long way towards transforming UCPN (Maoist) from a cadre-based party into a mass-based party, a la Nepali Congress and CPN-UML. The official document prepared by Chairman Dahal which is to be presented at the general convention shows the extent of the party’s evolution. It has come a long way since its last general convention in Madi, Chitwan in 1992 which paved the way for a decade-long ‘people’s war.’ In places, the new document reads more like an election manifesto of a mainstream political party than the strategic underpinning of a ‘revolutionary’ communist outfit. Significantly, the party has ditched the old course of ‘new democratic revolution’ and adopted ‘new capitalistic revolution’ as its official line. The ideological shift is clearly aimed at consolidating the party’s position as the largest elected democratic force in the country.
The party rank and file must have noted with amusement how Chairman Dahal has suddenly started finding ‘troubling flaws’ in the modus operandi of his erstwhile heroes like Stalin and Mao. He now believes it is ‘unscientific’ to try to replicate revolutions carried out under completely different contexts. The party’s U-turn on its position on India marks another radical departure. The ‘expansionist’ force, and the Maoist enemy number one against which the party was once preparing to go to war, is now a force which can be dealt with across the table. Most importantly, the party has formally abandoned the course of violence in its decision to try to consolidate the progressive changes witnessed in the country in the last six years through peaceful means. This is the reason many Maoist watchers believe that the seventh general convention will mark the party’s official, irrevocable entry into mainstream politics. While that may (or may not) be the case, UCPN (Maoist) will first have to clean its own house before it embarks on the country’s ‘progressive transformation’.[break]
Unlike the general conventions of democratic parties, there will be no voting for top office bearers in the UCPN (Maoist) general convention, nor will the Hetauda meet make any contribution in setting the party’s future course of action. Leadership positions will be chosen on the discretion of the ‘leadership’; and the sole contribution of party delegates will be to ‘rubberstamp’ Dahal’s official document. For the party’s genuine transformation into a democratic party, it is important that party delegates be allowed to choose their leaders and take an active part in shaping the party’s future. Separately, the Maoist general convention is also expected to lead to a breakthrough in the country’s long-deadlocked politics. With greater clarity on the party’s future course and consolidation of Chairman Dahal’s hold, the party leadership, it is hoped, will be in a much stronger position to push for solutions on the national stage. As such, although the Maoist general convention will deliver little in substance, its symbolic value is huge. This is the first significant attempt of the Maoist party to project itself as a thoroughly democratic party committed to progressive changes through peaceful means. In politics, perception often matters as much as reality.
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