KATHMANDU: CPN-UML Vice-chair Surendra Pandey said the party is gradually drifting away from the people as decision-making becomes concentrated in the hands of a few leaders.
Speaking at an interaction on the upcoming General Convention in Kathmandu, Pandey said the UML is narrowing, shrinking, and moving toward isolation, warning that the trend is weakening the party’s democratic character.
He criticized the rise of individual-centric politics inside a party with a long democratic legacy, saying this was discouraging the new generation from joining. According to him, the current structure, where elections are rare, competition is discouraged, and leadership lists descend from the top, leaves no real entry point for emerging youth leaders.
Pandey argued that both legal and constitutional reforms are necessary to correct the course, including a provision ensuring that no individual can serve more than two terms as party chair.
He added that the problem is not limited to older parties alone; similar tendencies are emerging even in newly formed parties, where leaders are increasingly reluctant to give up the chairperson’s post.
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