Progressive Democratic Party Faces Ideological Rift After Election Defeat

Kathmandu. Serious ideological and theoretical differences have emerged in the Progressive Democratic Party (PrLoPa), announced before the February 15 elections.

Following an unexpected defeat in the elections, the PrLoPa Chairman Council had called an expanded central committee meeting in Kathmandu on April 11 and 12 to review the situation. After Council Chairman Santosh Pariyar presented a document on the new era's new ‘Socialist Democracy’ at the meeting, the faction led by patron Baburam Bhattarai, i.e., the former Naya Shakti group, expressed dissatisfaction.

The ideological crisis within PrLoPa has deepened after Chairman Pariyar presented a document that supports leftist ideology and principles in a way different from what Bhattarai had proposed during the party's announcement program. According to a leader from the Naya Shakti faction, the expanded meeting did not pass the document presented by Chairman Pariyar.

‘The Progressive Democratic Party is not a newly announced party. It is a continuation of Naya Shakti. We abandoned leftist ideology ten years ago. But friends who have just left other parties have not been able to abandon communist or leftist ideology,’ that leader told Ratopati. ‘They seem to want to die as communists. Dr. Sahib has spoken of scientific humanism, but they talk about democratic socialism. Ideology based on leftist technology cannot fulfill the country's needs at present.’

Bhattarai claims to have presented the new political philosophy of ‘Scientific Humanism’ based on this historical-scientific reality. The leader insists that the destination of the Progressive Democratic Party, through ‘Naya Shakti’, is advanced socialism.

However, leader Krishna Sharma asserted that the differences are due to a lack of understanding rather than ideological differences, and a review is still needed.

‘We have talked about scientific humanism and advanced socialism. But Santosh ji has spoken about social democracy. Whatever is said in words, it is leftist ideology,’ Sharma said. ‘We are not leftist. We are not democratic. We are progressive. We have talked about advanced socialism. There seems to be a difference in the understanding of words. It is necessary to hold another meeting and review.’

On the other hand, Chairman Pariyar stated that society cannot be imagined without being leftist. He argued that capitalism and neoliberalism have caused various socio-economic and cultural crises worldwide today, leading to humanitarian crises.

यस्ताे छ प्रलोपाले घोषणा गरेको पाँच बुँदे कार्यक्रम

‘The main reasons for these are neoliberalism and the myriad economic and social problems it has created. The neoliberal democratic system, which is only concerned with profit and loss in the economic system, has proven today that it can never be in the interest of the people,’ Pariyar said. ‘Especially, right-wing populism is dominant worldwide. It claims that human consciousness, thought, principles, and organization are not needed at all and is plotting to run the governance system through a handful of people.’

The Bhattarai faction claims that the expanded central committee meeting was adjourned due to a lack of quorum. Pariyar denies their accusation. He claimed that a majority of members were present in the 151-member central committee. However, the document presented by Pariyar at the meeting could not be passed due to ideological and theoretical differences. After the Janajagaran movement, PrLoPa was announced on December 7 as an alternative political party by the merger of Bhattarai-led Naya Shakti, Janardan Sharma, Ram Karki, Sudhan Kirati from Maoist Center, and Santosh Pariyar from RSP. However, PrLoPa could not win a single seat in the direct elections, nor could it cross 25,000 votes in the proportional representation category. Chairman Council chairpersons Kirati, Durga Shov, and Ojaswi Bhattarai resigned taking moral responsibility for the defeat. Kirati is preparing to leave the party and join the Shram Sanskriti Party. Pariyar informed that the resignations of Shov and Bhattarai have not been accepted.

Pariyar's report calls for the formation of a single strong organization of all leftists and socialists for the new era's new ‘Socialist Democratic’ movement.

He has proposed restructuring the current party as the socialist democratic movement needs to be defined in a new way and a new program and work direction needs to be created.