Leaders involved in drafting the document said they had given a title of ´Federal Socialism´ to their political program. They have also defined the theme of the program as "federalism for ethnic emancipation and socialism for class emancipation".[break]
Dissident leaders cutting across party lines have busying themselves in the recent days to give a final shape to a new party to push forward a federal model based on single-ethnic identity. CPN-UML Vice-chairman Ashok Rai and other leaders Ram Chandra Jha, Bijay Subba, Rajendra Shrestha, Bir Bahadur Lama, Rijwan Ansari and Gopal Thakur, among others have been working to form a new political force arguing that major political parties were reluctant to adopt a federal policy based on single-ethnic identity.
While they had already proposed a name -- Federal Socialist Party -- and drafted its manifesto, the leaders at a meeting in Kathmandu on Sunday discussed its political program.
"While old communist parties think that class-based discrimination is the only problem in the society we believe that both the class-based disparity and ethnic discrimination based on Hindu caste system need to be addressed simultaneously," CPN-UML Central Committee member Ajambar Kangmang Rai explained about the fundamental political policies of the would-be party. He clarified that the proposed ideas were under discussion and they were yet to be finalized.
According to him, they will try to learn from the experiences of the countries that have practiced federal governing system and social welfare programs to address social issues. "Some positive and relevant programs introduced in Scandinavian, Latin American and Chinese governments can be applicable in our case," he said.
Another leader closely involved in the initiatives said that they are going to finalize the document soon after some of the top leaders such as UML Vice-chair Rai, who is currently leading the dissidents, and Politburo member Jha, among others, arrive in Kathmandu. Rai, Jha, Rijwan Ansari, Gopal Thakur, among others, were in Janakpur to address a gathering of dissidents from Madhesi, ethnic and indigenous communities on Satruday.
A leader actively involved in the process, however, said that they can still defer or cancel the idea of forming new party if CPN-UML becomes ready to address their demands sincerely.
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