In public, leaders of the ruling CPN-UML claim that the party has got rid of factionalism and that it stands unified. This has been happening mainly after a group of leaders and members broke away from the party to form the CPN (Unified Socialist) under Madhav Kumar Nepal in 2021.

But if statements by party chairman KP Sharma Oli, who is also prime minister, are any sign, he worries about the same.

In his recent statements and official documents, Oli is found to be spending much time on criticising factional activities.

Addressing the party’s central committee meeting that commenced on Sunday in the party’s head office at Chaysal, Lalitpur, Oli repeated the same—no factions and sub-factions are acceptable in the party.

“Creating factions in the name of strengthening intra-party democracy will not make the party strong in a true sense,” said Oli at the meeting. “We should move ahead by keeping the interests of the party and the country at the centre, and not deviate.”

Oli said the party rank and file should be guided by a single harmonious policy.

Earlier, in August, while administering the oath to newly appointed vice-chair, two standing committee members and 17 central committee members at the party’s central office in Chasyal, Oli had said that factionalism is unacceptable in the UML.

Oli’s statements have come at a time when former President Bidya Devi Bhandari, who is also former vice-chair of the party, has stepped up her interactions with central as well as regional leaders, reportedly with a plan to return to active politics.

Some UML leaders, such as Karna Thapa and Gokul Baskota, who were loyal to Oli for many years, now advocate welcoming Bhandari back to the party. Also, some other influential second-rung leaders have been silently working for the same, seriously challenging Oli’s grip on the party.

A number of central committee members attending the Sunday meeting denied any factionalism. However, they admit that efforts to form groups were being made at the grassroots level.

“Although there are no factions at the central level, it appears that it is being practised at the local level in some cases, and the party chairman has urged the party rank and file not to engage in such activities,” said Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, a central committee member.

At the meeting on Sunday, Oli presented a political document, while General Secretary Shankar Pokhrel presented an organisational report.

In his political document, Oli acknowledges a deficiency in the government’s delivery, even as he himself leads the coalition with the Nepali Congress.

In his document, Oli claims the country’s economy has been gradually improving since the formation of his government. The two largest parties in Parliament—the Congress and the UML—forged an alliance on July 1 and formed the government two weeks later. They vowed to deliver political stability, amend the constitution and improve the country’s economy, among other things.

With political stability and the formation of a strong government, the confidence of the private sector has increased, while revenue, exports, and capital expenditure have all increased, states Oli’s document.

As the political document describes its relations with its major coalition partner Congress, it has also lambasted CPN (Maoist Centre), the party with which the UML was once united and ran coalition governments multiple times in the past.

Oli, in his paper, even claimed that Maoist Centre leaders were of late hobnobbing with former king Gyanendra Shah.

The UML also accused the Maoist Centre of playing foul in connection with the naming of Koshi Province, saying that the party’s provincial lawmakers were dishonestly provoking people to oppose the name even as it was decided with their participation in the provincial assembly.

“This is a clear example of erosion in the Maoists’ thought process, their opportunism… and the pain of being dismissed from the government,” the document reads.

In the report, Oli has accused the Maoist Centre and the Rastriya Swatantra Party of attempting to spread prejudice and exact revenge on the government.

“We are clear that no one who embezzled citizens’ money deposited at the cooperatives should be spared. Whoever it may be, the guilty should not be left unpunished,” Oli said in his report.

“Some parties or individuals are trying to politicise the ongoing investigation and prosecution and to portray the action against their leader as prejudiced or revengeful.”

Noting that some people from the ruling parties also face investigations on various cooperatives scams, Oli said that the government was wrongly accused of shielding them.

“The developments that led to the investigation, imprisonment or prosecution of some people associated with the ruling parties in this process have already proven such allegations wrong,” Oli said in the report. “If you have not made a mistake, you should not be afraid of the judicial process. But if one has made a mistake, the street or the court cannot grant them immunity.”

Oli’s document accuses the former king’s supporters of spreading frustration among the people. “In recent times the monarch and his supporters or individuals have also been active in promoting anarchy,” the document further says.

“By covering up the 240-year-old Shah dynastic rule, the plight of the country in that period and the painful loss of democracy, they now seem intent on casting shadow on the republican system.”

The political document mentions that the Russia-Ukraine war that started in February, 2022 had created an economic crisis throughout the world. It views the Israel-Hamas war as one having the potential to drag the whole region into conflict. The political document also endorses Palestine as an independent country.

“Our continued support for the Palestinian people’s demand for an independent and sovereign state has been unwavering,” reads the political document.

The American double-standard and provocative role on the Taiwan issue, contrary to the one-China policy it has adopted in the past, is increasing tensions in the region, the paper says. Any steps that increase tensions, centralise military power, and polarise the Asia-Pacific region are detrimental to world peace and regional stability. “We are of the view that such activities should immediately stop,” says the political document.

The report alleges that India has failed to pay due attention to the sovereignty, sensitivities, and concerns of neighbouring countries, due to which bilateral and multilateral partnerships among countries in the region have not progressed.

Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election and his announcement of protectionist policies that will impose additional tariffs on foreign products, threats to take control of the Panama Canal, parts of Canada and Greenland, and promises to deport millions of immigrants from the US have shaken up global politics and economy. The new US president, says the report, will have a profound impact on world politics once he takes office.

There were some voices in the UML’s central committee meeting against the party's decision to expel former vice-chairman Bhim Rawal.

The UML secretariat meeting on December 24 effectively ousted Rawal from the party, charging him with breaching the party protocol while Binda Pandey and Usha Kiran Timilsina were suspended for six months each for speaking against the party’s decision to accept land donation from Bhatbhateni Supermarket owner Min Bahadur Gurung.

But Sarita Neupane, another central committee member, said while some leaders questioned the party’s disciplinary actions, the issue was not raised by many at the meeting.

Prakash Shah and Jhapat Rawal, central members representing the Sudurpaschim province, demanded that the party secretariat withdraw the decision, said Neupane.

“A few central committee members from Sudurpaschim Province spoke on the issue, and demanded the actions be withdrawn,” Neupane said.

In Sunday’s meeting, some central committee members from Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces expressed their views on the report presented by the party chair, she said. The central members from four other provinces have yet to speak.

Party leaders say that if the meeting, which is scheduled to last until Monday, does not conclude on the day, it will be extended until Tuesday.