KATHMANDU: At the declaration assembly of the Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party, leader Janardan Sharma said that the need for a new political alternative emerged because the traditional parties failed to transform themselves.
Sharma explained that after the Gen-Z movement, there were still no signs of reform within the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and CPN-Maoist Centre, prompting the formation of a new party. He also accused the old parties of being entangled in nepotism, favouritism, and corruption.
Speaking at the news party announcement ceremony held at the Rastriya Sabha Griha on Sunday, Sharma remarked that even the Maoist party, which once fought a people’s war, could not preserve its revolutionary character.
“Congress led the government for 45 years, UML for 35 years, and the Maoists for nearly 17 years. Yet none of these parties could transform themselves in line with public expectations,” he said. “We chose a new path to break the tradition of bowing to the entrenched elites within political parties.”
Sharma also presented a brief review of Nepal’s seven-decade-long party politics. Recalling that the Nepali Congress was founded in 2004 BS and the Communist Party in 2006 BS, he said their combined strength gave momentum to the democratic movement of 2046 BS, which strengthened multiparty democracy.
He noted that the Congress, UML, Maoists, and the Madhesh and Indigenous nationalities movements played decisive roles in ending the Rana regime, the Panchayat system, and later the monarchy.
“Despite their historic contributions, these parties gradually lost their revolutionary character once in power. The country is now trapped in extreme corruption, discrimination, status-quo politics, and ineffective governance,” he said. “The old parties failed to implement policy and institutional reforms needed to eliminate centuries-old ethnic, regional, gender, and class-based discrimination.”
Sharma accused the traditional parties of weakening the public mandate through excessive politicization, impunity, a fragile state apparatus, and party interests influencing the constitution-writing process.
“Controlled democracy and populism pushed parties away from genuine transformation. The change citizens sought has stalled,” he said. “The Pragatisheel Loktantrik Partyaims to emerge as a new alternative in response to this situation.”
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