CPN (Maoist Center) has initiated discussion to change the party’s name.
The meeting of party’s office-bearers on September 11 had decided to instruct cadres to start discussion for changing name and take decision to change the party’s name in the next general convention.
Issuing a circular about the decision on September 16 signed by Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and General Secretary Dev Gurung, the ruling party has also mentioned that discussions are being held for unification with other communist parties.
The party’s central committee meeting held from August 1-6 in Kathmandu had formed a committee under Vice-chairman Krishna Bahadur Mahara to hold discussion for unification with other communist parties including former Maoists.
Mahara had been making efforts to bring Netra Bikram Chand into the party before that meeting but Dahal had instructed to keep unification on hold until the general convention deeming that some leaders in the party may be unhappy if Chand were inducted in the party and given responsibilities.
The party had earlier given up Maoist from the name while unifying with CPN-UML to form CPN in May 2018 but the Supreme Court (SC) invalidated the unification restoring the two parties to the state before unification.
CPN (Maoist Center) had tried to form socialist center by unifying with other communist parties before the last general election and had even held discussion for that with CPN (Unified Socialist) and Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) but to no avail. A few Maoist leaders had proposed changing the party’s name and election symbol at that time.
Nepal Samajwadi Party Chairman Baburam Bhattarai had also put the condition of changing the party’s name for unification with Maoist Center.
The party has concluded that people associated the party with its violent past when it is named Maoist Center and decided to change the party’s name to give a message that the erstwhile rebels have changed now.
