Political Parties Offer Divergent Interpretations of Recent Protests in Election Manifestos

Kathmandu. Political parties have published their manifestos for the House of Representatives election scheduled for Falgun 21. The mid-term election is being held due to the 'Gen-Z movement' that occurred on Bhadra 23 and 24. Otherwise, the term of the House of Representatives formed after the election held in Mangsir 079 would have ended in Mangsir 084. The political parties have interpreted the movement that led to the current election situation in different ways in their manifestos. The four main political parties—Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, Communist Party of Nepal, and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP)—have provided different explanations and analyses of the Gen-Z movement in their manifestos.

K.P. Sharma Oli, who was the Prime Minister at the time of the Gen-Z movement, and his party, CPN-UML, have given extensive analysis and interpretation of the movement in their election manifesto. The party chairman Oli's message and the section titled 'UML will build' explain the movement.

Oli discussed the movement in 3 places in his message. Oli first described the movement of Bhadra 23 and 24 as unimaginable.

Secondly, Oli raised questions about the Gen-Z movement in 6 points, stating, 'Was the incident of Bhadra 23 spontaneous or a premeditated conspiracy? Or was the violence instigated by infiltrators to prepare the ground for the destruction on Bhadra 24?'

Furthermore, Oli mentioned in his manifesto's message that the great destruction carried out across the country on Bhadra 24 was not an unexpected event. According to Oli, that incident was a planned attack to erase the sovereignty and existence of the nation of Nepal.

Not only in Oli's message, but in the section titled 'UML will build' in the manifesto, CPN-UML mentioned that it will restore the entire nation by connecting the destroyed structures.

The Communist Party of Nepal has not given much attention to the movement. Under the heading 'Why the Communist Party of Nepal in the Party's Election Commitment Paper,' it has mentioned very little. It has only linked the new and populist forces to the destruction of Bhadra 24, with no other writing.

Nepali Congress has stated that an independent, impartial investigation should be conducted as soon as possible to ascertain the truth and ensure justice regarding the human casualties and serious human rights violations and violent atrocities that occurred during the Gen-Z movement. Congress has also committed to bringing the culprits to justice. 'Nepali Congress has an unwavering commitment to ensuring justice for the victims by bringing the culprits involved in the incident to the legal threshold,' Congress wrote in its manifesto.

Rastriya Swatantra Party has committed in its manifesto to implement the suggestions and recommendations of the commission formed to investigate the incidents of Bhadra 23 and 24.