Socialist Front agrees on six-month rotational leadership

Kathmandu / July 8: Parties affiliated to the Socialist Front have reached an agreement to rotate the leadership of the front every six months. An agreement to this effect was reached during a meeting of the Socialist Front held at the central office of the CPN (Unified Socialist) party in Alok Nagar on Saturday.

Rajendra Pandey, vice chairman of the CPN (Unified Socialist), informed Republica that the constituent parties of the Socialist Front agreed to adopt a rotational leadership system, with each party taking charge for a period of six months.

“The front will be chaired by one party for six months at a time. The specific order and duration of each party’s leadership will be decided in the upcoming meeting. In the interim period, CPN (Unified Socialist) chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal will serve as the chair of the front,” he stated.

The Socialist Front, composed of four parties, was established on June 19 and currently commands a total of 54 Members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Representatives. The front has the CPN (Maoist Center), the CPN (Unified Socialist), the Janata Samajbadi Party and the Nepal Communist Party led by the once outlawed Netra Bikran Chand.

Previously, while there was an agreement to alternate leadership within the front, the duration of each party’s term was not specified.

During Saturday’s meeting, chaired by Madhav Nepal, the Socialist Front also decided to organize events in the capitals of all seven provinces across the country. CPN (Unified Socialist)’s Vice Chair Pandey mentioned that the dates for these provincial events would be determined in the next meeting of the front scheduled for July 12.

Furthermore, a four-member working group was formed during Saturday’s meeting to develop the policy and program as well as a code of conduct for the Socialist Front. The working group consists of Dev Gurung from the CPN (Maoist Center), Rajendra Shrestha from the Janata Samajwadi Party, Pramesh Hamal from the CPN (Unified Socialist), and Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma from the Nepal Communist Party.