Nepal Workers Peasants Party

The Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) or Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party[2] (Nepali: नेपाल मजदुर किसान पार्टी, abbreviated नेमकिपा) is a political party in Nepal. The party was founded on 23 January 1975 by Narayan Man Bijukchhe. The party enjoys most of its support from Bhaktapur.[3] The party is sympathetic to the Workers' Party of Korea in North Korea, as well as the Juche ideology.

Nepal Workers Peasants Party नेपाल मजदुर किसान पार्टी
Abbreviation	NMKP
Chairman	Narayan Man Bijukchhe
Founder	Narayan Man Bijukchhe
Founded	23 January 1975
Split from	CPN (Pushpa Lal)
Headquarters	Golmadhi, Bhaktapur
Student wing	Nepal Revolutionary Students' Union
Youth wing	Nepal Revolutionary Youths' Union
Women's wing	Nepal Revolutionary Women's Union
Peasant Wing	Nepal Revolutionary Peasants' Union
Cultural Wing	Nepal Revolutionary Culturals' Union
Teacher Wing	Nepal Revolutionary Teachers' Union
Worker Union	Nepal Revolutionary Workers' Union
Ideology	Juche[1]
Political position	Far-left
Colors	Red
Seats in Pratinidhi Sabha	1 / 275
Seats in Provincial Assemblies	2 / 110 (Bagmati Province)
Election symbol
Website
www.nwpp.org.np
Politics of Nepal Political parties Elections

History

Foundation

The Nepal Workers and Peasants Party was founded as the Nepal Workers and Peasants Organization on in Nepal on 23 January 1975.[4]

The NPWO had broken away from the Communist Party of Nepal (Pushpa Lal) in protest over Pushpa Lal Shrestha's support for Indian intervention in East Pakistan, together with the Proletarian Revolutionary Organisation, Nepal, and the Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti.

In 1981 the NWPO split, and two separate parties came into existence. One party was led by Narayan Man Bijukchhe, which later became the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party and the other was led by Hareram Sharma.[5]

Jana Andholan I and II (1990-2007)

Installing posters for the Nepal Workers Peasants Party, at a hiti (public fountain) in Thamel

Bijukchhe's NWPO formed part of the United Left Front and took part in the 1990 Jana Andolan uprising. It participated in the formation of the Samyukta Janamorcha Nepal, but left shortly before the 1991 election.[6] The group changed its name to the Nepal Workers Peasants Party and contested the election separately. It fielded 30 candidates, out of whom two were elected. The party received a total of 91,335 votes, or 1.25%.

Ahead of the 1992 elections to local bodies, the NWPP formed an electoral coalition with the Samyukta Janamorcha Nepal, Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist), Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist), and Nepal Communist League.[7]

NWPP mural in Bhaktapur

NWPP was active in the protest movements against repression in Nepal and is a member of the Seven Party Alliance which spearheaded the 2006 Loktantra Andolan. After the restoration of a democratic system, the party decided not to join the government, but stayed in the Seven Party Alliance, which later converted into the Eight Party Alliance. When the interim legislature was formed in January 2007, Bijukchhe was joined by three other nominated MPs.[8]

Constituent Assembly and Federal Nepal (2008-present)

The party contested the 2008 Constituent Assembly elections and won four seats to the Constituent Assembly. The party also had one nominated member. In the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections, the party again won four seats. The party voted for Khadga Prasad Oli in the prime minister election on 12 October 2015.[9]

In the 2017 local elections, the party won 99 seats to local government and won one mayoral position in with Sunil Prajapati being elected as the mayor of Bhaktapur Municipality.[10] The party also contested the 2017 legislative and provincial elections as they won one seat to the House of Representatives and two seats to the Provincial Assembly of Province No. 3.[11][12]

Ideology

The guiding principle of the Nepal Workers Peasants party is Juche and the guiding economic principle is scientific socialism.[13] The party sees political independence and economic self-sustenance as the cornerstones of development. The party also sees India as an imperialist force working against Nepalese self-interest.[14]

Electoral performance

Legislative elections

Election	Leader	Constituency votes			Party list votes			Seats		Position	Resulting government
		#	%	% change	#	%	% change	#	+/-
1991	Narayan Man Bijukchhe	91,335	1.25					2 / 205		8th	In opposition
1994	Narayan Man Bijukchhe	75,072	0.98	0.27				4 / 205	2	7th	In opposition
1999	Narayan Man Bijukchhe	48,015	0.56	0.42				1 / 205	3	10th	In opposition
2008	Narayan Man Bijukchhe	65,908	0.64	0.08	74,089	0.69		4 / 575	3	14th	In opposition
2013	Narayan Man Bijukchhe	54,323	0.60	0.04	66,778	0.71	0.02	4 / 575		15th	In opposition
2017	Narayan Man Bijukchhe	52,668	0.52	0.08	56,141	0.59[lower-alpha 1]	0.12	1 / 275	3	11th	In opposition

1. Represented as Independent for not reaching the 3% threshold

Provincial elections

Provincial Assembly	Election Year	Votes		Seats		Resulting government
		# of votes in PR	% of votes in PR	#	Position
Bagmati	2017	41,610	2.20	2 / 110	5th	In opposition

References

1. Lee, Seulki (Apr 29 – May 5, 2016). "City of devotees devotes itself to development". Nepali Times. Retrieved 2018-05-13.
2. "Nepal's left warns of Indian interference posing as relief". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
3. "Locals unimpressed with major parties' development agenda". My Republica. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
4. Central Committee, NRSU (February 2011). "The Role of Nepal Workers' and Peasants' Party in the Communist Movement of Nepal". The Workers Bulletin. 1. 1 (1): 1–6.
5. Rawal, Bhim Bahadur. Nepalma samyabadi andolan: udbhab ra vikas. Kathmandu: Pairavi Prakashan. Chart nr. 1.
6. Upreti, B.C.. The Maoist Insurgency in Nepal: Nature, Growth and Impact. In South Asian Survey 13:1 (2006), page 37
7. Hoftun, Martin, William Raeper and John Whelpton. People, politics and ideology: Democracy and Social Change in Nepal. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point, 1999. p. 190
8. "name list of mp". 2007-06-09. Archived from the original on 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
9. "UML's Oli elected new PM". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
10. "Prajapati elected Bhaktapur mayor". My Republica. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
11. "NWPP wins elections in Bhaktapur-1". My Republica. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
12. "Ousted fringe parties have footing in state assemblies". Retrieved 2018-04-20.
13. Author, No. "Bhaktapur's Dear Leader | Nation | Nepali Times". archive.nepalitimes.com. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
14. "In this Nepali city, the North Korean dream is alive—and it's thriving". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2020-12-14.