KATHMANDU: Senior leader of CPN (Unified Socialist), Jhala Nath Khanal, has criticized the adoption of “People’s Multiparty Democracy” (Jabaja) as a guiding principle, calling it a ‘severe right-wing deviation.’
Speaking at the launch of Lok Krishna Bhattarai’s book Nirvasan on Saturday, Khanal argued that Nepal’s communist movement suffered from repeated divisions because of a deviation from Marxism-Leninism, which he believes should remain the sole ideological foundation.
“The communist movement began to fragment when the party adopted Jabaja instead of upholding Marxism-Leninism,” he said. “We are now in a critical situation, with more than 24–25 splinter groups. A comprehensive ideological, political, and organizational restructuring is necessary.”
Khanal emphasized that Nepal has moved past the phase of democratic revolution and has now entered an era of socialist revolution and transformation. In this context, he called for renewed unity among communist forces, but stressed that unity must be based on shared ideology, not emotion.
He added that the principal enemy in this phase is comprador capitalism, while imperialist forces remain an external challenge.
Reaffirming his support for “scientific socialism” as the ultimate goal, Khanal cautioned against the rise of various misleading forms of socialism. “Karl Marx had already warned about different bourgeois versions of socialism. We must stay alert and commit ourselves to scientific socialism,” he stated.
He concluded by saying that communist unity is still possible, but only through clear direction, correct policies, and ideological clarity.
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