Kathmandu — Naresh Rokaya, a central committee member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) (CPN-UML), has said the party leadership must take responsibility for the unexpected defeat the party suffered in the recent elections.
Rokaya said the entire party secretariat should accept accountability for the election outcome. He also said leaders who have repeatedly been rejected by voters should make way for new leadership.
According to him, the main responsibility for the party’s poor electoral performance lies with the executive leadership. He stressed that leadership does not refer only to the party chair but to the entire secretariat.
Rokaya said a core group within the secretariat played a key role in influencing decisions in a way that misled the main leadership. He said decisions driven by the interests of that group contributed to what he described as a humiliating defeat for the party.
Internal Divisions and Candidate Selection Issues
He also commented on unity within the party, saying that while unity is essential for electoral competition, the UML currently shows only superficial unity rather than genuine internal cohesion.
Rokaya said the factional alignments seen during the party’s general convention should have been treated as part of the democratization of party life. Instead, he said, they were viewed as a form of class struggle.
He cited several examples, including the distribution of election responsibilities, preparation of the proportional representation candidate list, and the selection of candidates for the National Assembly and direct elections to the House of Representatives.
Gen Z Vote and Leadership Responsibility
Rokaya also referred to the recent Gen Z movement, saying it contained both strengths and weaknesses. However, he said the party focused mainly on criticizing its weaknesses instead of acknowledging its positive aspects.
According to him, this approach alienated young voters, leading many from that age group to vote against the party, which he said contributed to one of the party’s worst electoral defeats.
He said that in a democratic system political parties play a central role, and only parties that perform strongly in electoral competition remain politically relevant.
Rokaya also said leaders of political parties should themselves be elected by the people. Leaders repeatedly defeated by voters, he said, do not have the moral authority to lead the party.
He added that leaders who have faced repeated electoral defeats should step aside from key party responsibilities, saying such resignations could help revive and rebuild the party.
