International Dimension of Prachanda Path

The following article is taken from issue number 10 of The Worker, organ of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) [CPN(M)]. It highlights some key points of the Party’s theory of Prachanda Path, the application of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism to Nepal’s conditions; in particular, it argues that Prachanda Path has implications for the international communist movement. This is particularly interesting in light of the recent criticism of the CPN(M) political actions by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) seen here. This article, and the Indian criticisms, should be studied in order to better focus debate over how to implement the masses' right to rule.


International Dimension of Prachanda Path

Basanta
Introduction

Nepal, a small landlocked country, which has been suffering from semi-feudal and semi-colonial exploitation and oppression mainly after the penetration of British imperialism in 1816 through Sugauli Treaty, has now become well-known to the people, both the oppressor and oppressed classes, of the world. The incredible transformation in the politico-economic domain undergone in the vast countryside of Nepal during the past ten years and the process of coming close to seizing central power by the oppressed masses in Nepal has become a source of encouragement and inspiration for the oppressed people the world over. On the other hand, it has become an ideological and political threat for imperialism, mainly the US imperialism presently led by George W. Bush. The People's War has made Nepal reach this glorious height right in the beginning of twenty-first century with nothing other than the strength of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and its creative application in the particularity of Nepalese politico-economic contour. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the vanguard of Nepalese proletariat, has been leading this revolutionary process under the adept leadership of Chairman Comrade Prachanda.

This short period often years in the Nepalese history has indeed been the most important and tumultuous period of class struggle to change the political, social and cultural landscape of Nepal. Naturally, a question has come up as to why the Nepalese People's War, unlike others, acquired such a big victory in a short span of time? What we believe is that the reason behind this amazing success of People's War is the correct application of dialectical and historical materialism, the philosophy of MLM, in practice in the concrete condition of Nepalese society. Regarding this, Comrade Prachanda, in an interview to Janadesh on February 13, 2006, says, "Our Party has been very seriously grasping the importance of applying materialist dialectics to carry out concrete analysis of concrete condition, the living soul of Marxist science, which seeks truth, and of following mass line to transform truth into people's strength". Based on this understanding, when our Party creatively applied MLM with tactical flexibility and strategic firmness, and maintained correct sequence between political and military intervention against the state power, it resulted in great leaps in the development of Nepalese People's War.

This creative application of Marxism in Nepalese, particularity not only advanced People's War in leaps, but also developed new experiences, which in fact justified once again what Lenin had said- "Marxism is not a lifeless dogma, not a completed, ready-made, immutable doctrine, but a living guide to action". (Lenin, 4th English Edition, page 43). The second national conference, convened after five years of initiation of People's War, synthesized those new experiences as Prachanda Path (PP), which of course is the most important ideological achievement the Nepalese proletariat has gained during the past turbulent ten years. It has also once again proved in Nepal the correctness of theory of two leaps propounded by Mao. On ideological synthesis, Chairman Comrade Prachanda, in the document, A Great Forward Leap: Inevitable Necessity of History, page 79, said, "This synthesis of experiences, according to the theory of knowledge of dialectical materialism, has been acquired from the process of practice, knowledge, again practice and again knowledge. MLM has taught us that this cycle goes on moving up to infinity."

Our Party does not claim that Prachanda Path has already become universal. Nor do we think it is the time to debate whether or not it has attained universality. Nonetheless, we believe that the new concepts and ideas that it has put forward encompasses ideological and political strength to help develop revolutionary struggles all across the world. MLM is a universal science of revolution, so the developments taken place in any part of the world in this domain, is sure to have universal applicability. In this sense, PP can be no exception. This short article does not aim at elaborating the entire ideological and political questions that our Party has claimed to have developed in the form of PP. Here, mainly the ideological and political questions that can have immediate implication in the ICM will be discussed in short.

Analysis of Imperialism

One of the most important aspects that our Party has been paying keen attention to is the analysis of imperialism in a scientific and rational way. Like all living objects, capitalism also does not remain stationary but undergoes changes in its course of functioning. The way capitalism was operating during Marx's time did not remain so at the time of Lenin. When competitive capitalism acquired monopolistic nature, Lenin held it to have reached the form of a moribund stage, that of imperialism. In the same way, Mao came to analyze imperialism working in a different form, differently than what Lenin did. Today, one doesn't find imperialism working in the way it used to work in Mao's time. However, unless it is overthrown by the force of proletarian revolution, one thing that it never slows down rather speedens up is its monopolistic pillage, the oppression and exploitation of the world and its pursuit to make, by any means, the entire world kneel down under its ruling.

The counter-revolution in China in the 70s, the collapse of Soviet social imperialism in the 80s and inability of other imperialist powers to compete with the US military strength created a temporarily 'favorable' situation for the US to escalate its all-round and unchallenged offensive against the nations and people all across the world. On the other hand, this resulted in further intensification of people's hatred and fury mainly against US imperialism. Growing militant struggles all across the world and the September 11 event as well are nothing other than the upshots of intensifying contradiction between imperialism, mainly the US imperialism, and oppressed nations and the people. But, the ideology it was inspired by and the form of struggle it made use of in 9/11 episode are both wrong to fight imperialism. No ideology other than MLM and no form of struggle other than People's War can wipe out imperialism. In fact, this event created a suitable pretext for the US ruling class, the ringleader of world imperialism, to launch its war business openly against the masses of the world. Bush's arrogant dictum of "war on terror" and "either you are with us or against us", though surfaced right after September 11, was only a part of the design the US imperialism had been engineering against the people of the world since long. It is not correct that this event alone prompted the US imperialism to come out aggressively against the people of the world. What it did was to create a 'favorable' environment for US imperialism to implement its anti-people ploy without any delay. Military aggression and occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq is the result of this design that the US ruling class had been conceiving since long against the people all across the world.

The US imperialism, terrorizing the masses of the people the world over by what it is doing now in Afghanistan and Iraq, and others in the making, is giving a free rein to its superpower ambitions over all the nations, mainly the third world countries. Bush's arrogant dictums, "war on terror", "either you are with us or against" and "axis of evil " are nothing other than his grand design to make the entire nations kneel down before US imperialism and establish its sole control in the form of a single globalized state. Explaining this, Chairman Comrade Prachanda writes in the document of CC meeting, 2005, "Although the capitalist class essence remains the same, imperialism in its course of development has been acquiring new forms and shapes. The main specificity of today's imperialism has been to exploit and oppress the broad masses of people of the earth economically, politically, culturally and militarily in the form of a single globalized state". This is definitely a new and creative opening that PP has put forward on the analysis of imperialism in the beginning of the twenty-first century. This fact has been clearly manifested from how US imperialism has been forcing the regimes of other countries, mainly the third world, to follow imperialist diktats in the entire internal affairs of politics, economics, culture and the military like a federal central power in a certain country does with provincial states within it. The presence of US military bases in 140 countries all over the world justifies this very ambition of the US ruling class. However, one needs to go further deep in this analysis.

But the aforesaid analysis does not mean that the contradiction between imperialist countries has been non-existent. This contradiction exists and will continue to exist until the whole imperialist world order has been wiped out. It only means that the present world is being decided not by the contradiction between imperialist powers but by the struggle between US imperialism and the entire nations and people all over the world. At present, the collusion between imperialist powers has been the principal aspect. It is our assessment that never before had been the US imperialism so exposed before the world people than now. This has made the situation more favorable to mobilize masses internationally against it.

Strategy and Tactics

Undoubtedly, strategy and tactics are the weapons of a revolutionary Party with which it can effectively carry forward revolutionary activities against the enemy and get rid of it. The way an enemy attacks on us decides how we should counter-attack, but not vice versa. What it means is that change in the objective situation necessitates the development of strategy and tactic to complement it. We believe that the revolution in the twenty-first century can advance and become victorious only if the Maoist parties deepen their understanding of the changes taken place in the imperialist system and develop strategy and tactic corresponding to them. Otherwise, the usual business of clinging on to what Lenin and Mao said in their life time will not help the Maoist revolutionaries change the face of the globe.

In the famous essay "On Contradiction" Chairman Mao has quoted Sun Wu Tzu, "Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat". Where does it point to? What should revolutionaries do to know the enemy and oneself? It is nothing other than the concrete analysis of concrete condition, the soul of Marxism, which guides revolutionaries to know oneself and the enemy.

Along the lines of aforesaid analysis, our Party, under the leadership of Chairman Comrade Prachanda, believes that the analysis of imperialism made by Lenin and Mao in the twentieth century cannot scientifically guide the Maoist revolutionaries to develop correct strategy and tactic to fight in the twenty-first century. Naturally, strategy and tactic based on the analysis of the erstwhile situation have now become insufficient to accomplish, sustain and develop proletarian revolution. Emphasizing this question, in the resolution adopted by the CC in 2005, Com. Prachanda writes, "The internationalist revolutionaries of the twenty-first century must seriously focus their attention on the fact that the analysis that Lenin and Mao had made on imperialism and a number of concepts they had developed on their basis regarding proletarian strategy have lagged behind."

Those who are studying our People's War closely will find us at times going too far in tactics. It is true, we had gone too far before and we should be ideologically prepared to go far again if necessary for revolution. We had united with parties which were revisionists. Our Party had 11 members in the parliament that can nowhere be seen in the history of revolutionary communists after Lenin's Dumas. We were in table with the enemy twice in the history of People's War. We declared unilateral ceasefire when we were achieving military victory one after another. However, our Party firmly believes that we would not have been in today's situation had not we been tactically far at those junctures. History is witness, unity with revisionists helped us grasp Maoism more firmly. Our MPs helped expose the emptiness of the so-called parliamentary system and maintain close relation with the masses. Two negotiations helped us popularize our politics among the masses nationally and internationally and helped us build strong unity with them. Consequently, it helped us create a situation by which we could justify the necessity of higher level of military offensive against the enemy. The latest unilateral ceasefire helped us unite with all those who can be united against the main enemy, the monarchy and its international tutor, George W Bush. This is the uniqueness and originality of Nepalese People's War.

What we can claim from this is that it is the firmness in strategy and flexibility in tactic, which has developed People's War in leaps. Now let us see, what Comrade Prachanda says on this. In the same interview he says, "Here we should be clear that those, who are with reformist specs surmise our strategic firmness as a danger and always oppose it, where as, those with specs of 'left sectarianism' also find our tactical flexibility dangerous. But, proving their opposition to be unscientific and exposing it, our Party has been moving forward in the direction of continuous revolution as a correct applier of dialectical materialism and will continue to do so in future." Further clarifying the interrelation between strategy and tactic, in the same interview he writes, "Tactical flexibility without strategic firmness makes one sink into the quagmire of reformism and revisionism and, strategic firmness without tactical flexibility into that of dogmatism. Where as, only the correct handling of dialectical interrelation between strategic firmness and tactical flexibility makes the movement go ahead correctly and lively." We believe that this grasp of PP has enriched MLM on the question of strategy and tactic.

Problems in Contemporary Communist Movement

The fall of Soviet social imperialism followed by counter-revolution in Russia, the counter-revolution in China after Mao's demise and the ideological offensive against Marxism that imperialism and revisionism carried out all across the world pushed the International Communist Movement into a very defensive situation. In that difficult situation, the communist parties upholding Marxism-Leninism and Mao Tsetung thought played an important role to defend our internationalist ideology some by organizing RIM in 1984, and some remaining outside. The great People's War in Peru once again came up as a rising sun to awaken the proletariats and oppressed masses all across the world. Following all this, the adoption of Maoism by RIM in 1993 was a big victory for the international proletariat in the ideological domain. But still, right revisionism remains the main danger in the ICM. Our Party had played an important role in both the internal and external struggles against right revisionism and formation of RIM.

Not only right revisionism, represented mainly by the UML, but we had to struggle internally against the semi-Hoxhaite trend of MB Singh, its remnants within us and right liquidationism of Rupalal and Nirmal Lama, to develop our line. In addition to this, our Party under the leadership of Comrade Prachanda has developed a correct line in the course of struggles against two, wrong trends that appear in the question of analyzing national and international situation for revolution within the Maoist camp internationally. The first one is the trend that one-sidedly emphasizes only on the basically favorable national situation in a given country but does not comprehensively look at what is happening in the world. Parties with this trend follow their own course as if the international situation has no relation with the revolution in the particular country. They overlook the necessity of developing strategy and tactic to confront the new challenges created by imperialism but stick to what Comrade Mao had said before. In other words, this trend neither finds it necessary to analyze the changes brought about by the imperialist system nor comprehends the interrelation between part and whole. Rather, it emphasizes only on the part of the world they work in. As a consequence of this, they confine their activities within their own geography, do not find it necessary to learn from positive and negative experiences of others and finally fall prey to sectarianism.

The second one is the trend that does not pay sufficient attention to analyze the national situation and find sharpening contradictions to take up class struggle as soon as possible, but conceives of their revolution as a thing that routinely succeeds when the world revolution takes place. They think no revolutionary situation has yet emerged internationally. According to this trend, what is needed now is not to take up class struggle and thereby hasten the revolutionary situation to emerge but is to develop ideology and politics so that the revolutionary situation in the future can be seized unfailingly. In fact, this trend goes against historical dialectical materialism, which demands practice to develop it. What seems to be their regular routine is not to concentrate on how revolutionary struggle can be developed in one's country by developing correct strategy and tactic but to talk more of world revolution, enjoy classical debate, eulogize strategy and tactic of the past successful revolutions, teach other fraternal parties as if they know everything about the concrete situation in that country and stick to what Lenin and Mao had said before. This trend represents dogmatism.

Our Party believes that although right revisionism is the main danger in the contemporary ICM, sectarianism and dogmatism also have been creating impediments for the smooth development of revolution from within the Maoist camp in the world. Prachanda Path has been developed in the course of sharp struggles against right revisionism and these two wrong trends existing within the Maoist camp as well. In short, 'emphasize on the national situation, pay attention to the international situation and apply MLM creatively based upon concrete analysis of the concrete condition and mass line to develop class struggle and MLM' is the essence of Prachanda Path.

International and World Soviet Federation

People's fury and resistance against US imperialism and its lackeys have been substantially stepping up in these days all over the world, including in the imperialist citadels themselves. The People's War in Nepal, which is moving close to seizing the central power, is now directly confronting, ideologically and politically, against US imperialism. The People's War in India, Philippines, Turkey and others have been developing so as to challenge the central powers, the lackeys of US imperialism. Apart from this, the growing resistance against US occupation in Iraq, a Vietnam in the making, people's opposition stepping up in Afghanistan, recent uprising of the masses in France, recent victory in election of the anti-American left parliamentarian parties in the Latin American countries, people's approval of Hamas, the "terrorist", in the Palestinian election, countrywide protests against recent Bush visit in India and Pakistan, innumerable militant protests in various parts of the world against imperialist policies like globalization, liberalization and privatization etc. signifies that the oppressed masses in the entire world are turning up against imperialism. All this shows that objectively the situation is getting favorable to advance world proletarian revolutions and anti imperialist struggles all across the world.

The Maoist revolutionaries are very weak subjectively. In order to seize the opportunity engendered by constantly developing favorable situation for the proletarian revolution, the Maoist revolutionaries must make a forward leap ideologically, politically and organizationally as well. We believe that the globalized imperialism by way of intensifying its aggression all across the world has created favorable situation and prerequisites more solid than before for the establishment of a new type of international in the twenty-first century. Certainly, RIM has played an important role to defend our proletarian cause and ideology MLM, in the face of imperialist offensive. But it has been unable to make a forward leap by way of applying and developing MLM and playing the role of a new type of International. A lot more is left for the RIM to do to reach that level. In the interview to Janadesh on February 13, 2006, Chairman Comrade Prachanda says, "To the extent of defending MLM from the attack of imperialism and revisionism, the establishment and initiative of RIM definitely played an important role. But, in the context of applying and developing MLM, RIM has not yet been able to make any leap. RIM can develop only by struggling against the problems like those of preferring to analyze and eulogize the experiences of old proletarian revolutions but hesitating to develop courageously the strategy and tactics based on mass line by carrying out concrete analysis of the concrete condition."

The globalized imperialism developing in the form of a single state and unprecedented revolution in the information technology has now made this world a small unit. As a result of this, the impact of revolution or counter-revolution in a particular country reaches now within seconds to every comer of the globe which none at the time of Lenin and Mao could have imagined. When any revolutionary activity develops to, a certain height it is bound to attract imperialist offensive of the kind they think necessary. In this situation, revolution in any country can neither be accomplished nor defended unless masses are mobilized internationally. In this context, what PP thinks is that revolution in any country must be carried out as a part and parcel of the world revolution. This is why Comrade Prachanda has put forward a concept of 'World Soviet Federation'. In the said interview Chairman Prachanda says, “...in today's world situation, worldwide movement is especially unavoidable from both the aspects of accomplishing and defending revolution in a certain country. Exactly for this reason, we have been taking revolution in a certain country as the base area of world revolution." In addition to this, in the said resolution he says, "The necessity of developing the concept of South Asian Soviet Federation in the twenty-first century to the concept of World Federation and waging every country's national liberation, democratic and socialist movement-under it is the burning necessity of today". However, it does not at all mean that no revolution can take place in a single country in the present day world. What it only means is that in the present world situation no revolution can succeed, sustain and develop if it is not made a part and parcel of the world revolution and if international community is not mobilized against the main enemy.

Nationalism and Internationalism

Sometimes the questions of nationalism and internationalism mislead the revolutionaries. Without any doubt, the communists are internationalists. But becoming an internationalist does not mean to take no notice of its national responsibility to make revolution country they dwell in. Becoming an internationalist means to make revolution in the country they inhabit and subordinate this to the interest of internationalist proletariat. There have been debates and sharp struggles on the question of nationalism and internationalism in the past and will be so in future. On what true internationalism means, Lenin says, " ... proletarian internationalism demands, firstly, that the interests of the proletarian struggle in one country be subordinated to the interests of that struggle on a world scale, and secondly, that a nation which is achieving victory over the bourgeoisie be able and willing to make the greatest national sacrifices for the sake of overthrowing international capital". (The Socialist Revolution and the Right of Nations to Self-determination Thesis - Lenin).

Unless the interrelation between these two is addressed scientifically and applied correctly in the specificity of given world situation the revolutionary movement will fall prey to deviation, either towards ultra-nationalism or towards national capitulationism. Our Party; by way of grasping the interrelation between these two correctly and applying this creatively has been struggling hard to accomplish revolution in Nepal, link this revolution with interests of international proletariat and thereby serve the world revolution.

Comrade Prachanda, since the period before the initiation of People's War, has been always guiding and leading our Party on its international duty. In the document adopted right before the initiation of People's War, he writes, “This plan of ours would be based on the great spirit of proletarian internationalism. The Nepalese revolution is an integral part of the world proletarian revolution and this will serve the world revolution. In this context our Party takes it as a serious responsibility to contribute towards the further development of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM) ...” One can easily understand how much it resembles with what Lenin said in the above quotation. This correct doctrine of Lenin is being precisely applied in our revolution and so represents true internationalism.

The Question of Model

The imperialist system is not a static thing but a dynamic one. Therefore it is bound to go ahead with changes in its course of functioning. Consequently, these changes bring about changes in the nature of contradictions it had before, be it a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country or the capitalist one. Our Party firmly believes that unless the revolutionaries grasp this dynamism of the imperialist system no revolutionary activities can successfully be propelled forward.

When our Party was going through a serious ideological struggle on how the People's War in Nepal can be initiated, sustained and developed, one of the questions we had seriously focused on was the question of model, the Chinese or the Russian. Truly, the third world countries in which there is semi-feudal and semi-colonial politico-economic relation do have more similarities with the erstwhile situation of China. So, the revolution, in these types of countries, basically takes a protracted form with different stages as Comrade Mao had defined. In the same way, the politico-economic relation and nature of contradictions in the capitalist and imperialist countries resemble more with the then situation of Russia. Nevertheless, what we think is that situation has undergone a considerable change so the communist revolutionaries must not stick to what Lenin had said about insurrection and what Mao had said on Protracted People's War.

Marxism is not an inert thing but a living science to transform the world. It demands creative application. Only the correct grasp and creative application of MLM can develop it. From the very beginning, our Party has been trying to grasp MLM correctly and apply it corresponding to the particularity of Nepalese condition. We are opposed to confining the path of revolution within the framework of a certain modality, which holds down our hand. In our concrete situation, what we have been applying is not a definite model. PP holds that sticking to what Lenin had said 80 years before and Mao had said 40 years before and trying to apply it as before in the present context also is not correct MLM. But switching on to what the concrete situation necessitates at the particular juncture of revolution is the real MLM. Those, who are keenly studying our Party and People's War from the very beginning will find that the course of revolution we are traversing neither resembles fully with what Mao did in China nor with what Lenin did in Russia. We believe one of the reasons behind the development of People's War in such a short span of time in Nepal is our success to keep ourselves away from the constraint of any model.

Prachanda Path has put forward a new concept of fusion of two strategies- the protracted People's War and insurrection. But this fusion does not mean a mechanical amalgamation of two kinds of strategies and creation of a new mixture but what it means is to flexibly apply the one that goes well with the given condition. The essence of fusion is not to abide by specific model but to remain ideologically unrestrained to apply any suitable tactic to confront the pressing challenge in the given concrete condition. We believe this new concept of ours is applicable everywhere in the world regardless of the politicoeconomic condition of country under question. Some people have sometimes criticized us of falling into spontaneity. But, the historic achievement of People’s War during the past ten years has objectively proved that this is not spontaneity but the dynamism of PP.

Democracy and Dictatorship of the Proletariat

State power exists till the classes exist in society. It represents democracy for the class in power and exercises dictatorship over the hostile class. The ultimate goal of the proletarian revolution is to establish worldwide communism, where no class and the state power exist. By no other means can the proletariat class make the class and state power disappear other than by handling correctly the dialectical relationship between democracy and dictatorship, when it is in power. But, as a result of a wrong grasp of this relation, there have always been debates, sharp struggles and even splits in the ICM on the question of democracy and dictatorship.

Definitely, dictatorship of the proletariat against bourgeoisie is a principal aspect to defend and develop revolution. But the question has come up time and again regarding how that dictatorship can be strengthened? How could reactionaries evolve from within the dictatorship of the proletariat? Can the defense of revolution be ensured by suppressing them with the force of power alone? How can the entire oppressed class be involved in strengthening the dictatorship of the proletariat? How can the masses play a role to control the power from turning into dictatorship of the bourgeoisie? How can our class curb the bourgeoisie from attaining power? Our generation must find answers to these questions.

Yes, in order to prevent counter-revolution, Comrade Mao has given a solution of Cultural Revolution, hundreds and hundreds of Cultural Revolutions until communism has been established all across the world. But it is not enough; we must develop it. It is a question of developing a methodology that can ensure revolution from within the revolution. It is the question of making cultural revolution a process of mass action that goes on uninterruptedly from within the society.

Democracy and dictatorship is the unity of opposites and so there is a dialectical relation between them. What it means is that stronger the democracy for the masses of the people stronger is the dictatorship they impose upon their class enemies. PP has tried to connect the missing link of the past that, in the course of exercising dictatorship upon the class enemies, no constitutional provisions were developed to ensure people's democratic right to supervise, control and intervene upon the communist Party, people's army and the people's government if they turn against the people.

Lenin says, "If the working class people is dissatisfied with their Party, they can elect other delegates, hand over power to another Party and change the government without any revolution at all." (A Dictionary of Marxist Thought, second .edition, edited by Tom Bottomore, pg. 409). Mao further concretized it and said, "It is right to rebel", "Let hundred schools of thought contend" etc. Now the question is how to institutionalize what Lenin indicates here and what Mao means from these sayings.

Our Party strongly believes that state power, the joint dictatorship of the people in new democratic stage and dictatorship of the proletariat in socialist stage, should guarantee the masses of the people, who are against the main enemy in the given situation, to contend within the constitutional framework and provide people's right to rebel against the state power if it turns into bourgeois dictatorship. Only by doing so can the voluntary unity among the oppressed masses be consolidated to defend and develop the dictatorship of the proletariat. Strong dictatorship upon the foundation of genuine democracy is the essence of PP. On this, chairman Prachanda in the said interview says, "According to this proposal, the Party firmly believes that only by organizing Partywise competition, even in the socialist society, within the constitutional framework against feudalism and imperialism and making lively the supervision, control and intervention of the masses in the state power, can the proletarian dictatorship be consolidated and the counter-revolutionary force be prevented from raising its head. In this way, only the dictatorship based on the development of democracy can finally prepare necessary preconditions for the withering away of the class, Party and the state." We believe this concept connects the missing link of MLM and therefore enriches it.

On Leadership

In the history of ICM, one can see that the fate of any revolution, whether it is to accomplish, to defend or to develop, has depended upon the key issue of leadership. No revolution in the past has triumphed without the emergence of an adept leadership nor will it in the future. In general, the communist parties believe in collectively. But it does not mean that all of the individual leaders can discharge that responsibility efficiently and so anyone can be picked up based on anyone's subjective wish. In the course of two-line struggle in the Party and class struggle in the society a certain individual, out of many, comes up with a specific quality and becomes the leader of the movement. Who comes ahead out of the collectivity is simply a matter of coincidence.

The history of ICM and our own recent experiences show that the leadership comes to be pushed and pulled more forcefully after the communist Party occupies state power or reaches close to it by way of revolution, than before. External threat from the imperialists and overthrown reactionaries, internal obstructions from the opportunist elements, growing demand of the masses of the people from the revolution and the inadequacy of resources to satisfy people's desire etc. can sometimes place the leadership in a state of quandary. But despite this difficult situation, the revolution has gone forward effectively in history till the main leadership, who had physically led the revolution, remains intact.

But, why does the absence (death or capture) of the main leadership, who personally had led the revolution, become the cause of counter-revolution? How can we generate revolutionary successors, who are capable of uninterruptedly sustaining and developing revolution, while the main leadership is still alive? These are genuine but difficult questions, and our generation must answer them.

Based on the experiences of past revolutions and counter-revolutions and our own experience of running people’s local powers, PP has attempted to address these longstanding problems that the ICM has been confronted with. In the recent CC meeting Comrade Prachanda has put forth a proposal to launch debate on the question of leadership within the Party and the ICM as well. On this, Chairman Prachanda in the said interview says, "The main crux of this proposal is to create such a material circumstance, in which the main leadership and the main leading core of the Party, who were leading the revolutionary movement to seize state power for the proletariat, keeping oneself away from the daily administrative works, can have an opportunity to concentrate on ideological work and provide opportunity for the revolutionaries of the new generation to train as successors. What our Party centre believes is that this process of producing successors can ascertain continuous revolution by preventing the danger of counter-revolution after the death of the main leadership." We firmly believe this is an important contribution of PP in the ideological arsenal of MLM. Our Party must work hard to develop and systematize this debate in the whole Party, the ICM and the masses as well.

Conclusion

The tumultuous ten years of successful People's War in Nepal has brought to the surface a set of new ideas in the domains of ideology, politics, organization, military, political economy and culture that has the ability to serve world proletarian revolution. Our Party believes that some of the aspects of Prachanda Path, which has enriched the arsenal of MLM, can have immediate implication for the contemporary International Communist Movement. Generally, the international situation is getting favorable to advance the world proletarian revolution, but the level of ideological and political understanding and the unity among Maoist revolutionaries is not sufficient enough to seize this opportunity. We, as a Party leading a successful People's War since the past ten years, have an important role to play to face the present challenges and connect the missing links of ideology, politics and organization internationally.