Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) (Nepali: नेपाल कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी (माओवादी केन्द्र)), abbreviated CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN-Maoist Centre, CPN Maoist Centre, or CPN (MC), is the third largest political party in Nepal and a member party of Samajbadi Morcha. It was founded in 1994 after breaking away from the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre). The party launched an armed struggle in 1996 against the Nepalese government. In 2006, the party formally joined mainstream politics after signing a peace agreement following the 2006 Nepalese revolution.
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) नेपाल कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी (माओवादी केन्द्र) | |
|---|---|
| General Secretary | Dev Gurung |
| Chairperson | Pushpa Kamal Dahal |
| Senior Deputy Chairperson | Narayan Kaji Shrestha |
| Founded | 1994 as CPN (UC) (in parallel with original one) 1996 as CPN (Maoist) 2009 as Unified CPN (Maoist) 2016 as CPN (Maoist Centre) 8 March 2021 (second iteration) |
| Dissolved | 17 May 2018 (first iteration) |
| Split from | CPN (Unity Centre) |
| Merged into | Nepal Communist Party (first iteration) (2018–2021) |
| Headquarters | Perisdanda, Koteshwor, Kathmandu |
| Ideology | Communism Marxism–Leninism–Maoism–Prachanda Path Left-wing nationalism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| International affiliation | RIM (defunct) CCMPOSA |
| Alliance | Samajbadi Morcha |
| Slogan | "Let us march ahead on the path of struggle towards establishing the people's rule by wrecking the reactionary ruling system of the state" |
| Armed wing | People's Liberation Army, Nepal (dissolved after peace agreement) |
| ECN Status | National Party |
| House of Representatives | 30 / 275
|
| National Assembly | 15 / 59
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| Provincial Assemblies | 82 / 550
|
| Chief Ministers | 2 / 7
|
| Mayors/Chairs | 121 / 753
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| Councillors | 5,044 / 35,011
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| Election symbol | |
| Party flag | |
| Website | |
| www | |
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| Communism in Nepal |
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| Communism portal |
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| Maoism |
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Pushpa Kamal Dahal has served as the leader of the party since its foundation. The party holds 32 seats in the House of Representatives making them the third largest parliamentary group. Dahal is also currently serving as Prime Minister of Nepal as part of a ruling coalition following the 2022 general election. The party has also led three previous governments; in 2008 and 2016 under Dahal, and in 2013 under Baburam Bhattarai.
The party was formed in 1994 with same name as its parent party Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre) and was named as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in 1996. After the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre–Masal) and its electoral front, Janamorcha Nepal merged with the party in 2009, the unified party came to be known as the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). The party emerged in its current state in 2016 following the unification of various splinter groups with the party.
The party was dissolved on 17 May 2018, after merging with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) to create the Nepal Communist Party but was revived on 8 March 2021 following a Supreme Court ruling in favor of Rishi Kattel, who had claimed the Nepal Communist Party name. The party claimed to have 750,000 members as of December 2021, making them the third largest party in Nepal by membership.