Kathmandu, February 19 Nepal's two major political parties, the CPN-UML and the RSP, on Thursday unveiled their respective manifestos aimed at winning over voters ahead of the March 5 general elections.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) (CPN -UML), led by former Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, and the newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), led by Ravi Lamichhane, released their manifestos.
Speaking in Kathmandu, CPN-UML Chairman Oli stated that the party is committed to building, not destroying, and developing the country.
The CPN-UML has prioritized good governance, development, employment generation, and social justice, which, the largest communist party said, were initiated when it was in power but could not be completed mainly due to political instability.
The party's manifesto also includes a commitment to providing employment opportunities to one million youths within five years.
The manifesto includes 11 immediate tasks, five fundamental tasks, and 25 pledges.
"The party will utilize state institutions to lead the transformation of the country, based on the party's past experiences and practices," the manifesto states.
Disciplined labor, citizen-friendly housing, expansion of industrial areas, advanced farming, quality education, and digital infrastructure development are among the 25 pillars of prosperity envisioned by the party.
The CPN-UML said it is committed to developing an industrial ecosystem to promote competitive industrial capacity.
Meanwhile, RSP President Lamichhane and the party's prime ministerial candidate Balendra Shah unveiled the election manifesto with 100-point commitments during a public meeting in the Surkhet district of Karnali province.
The party's commitment paper aims to initiate the process of constitution amendment by forging national consensus for establishing a political system based on a directly elected executive head, a fully proportionate parliament, and non-partisan local bodies.
It envisions short-term, mid-term, and long-term energy trade agreements with neighboring countries through bilateral and regional collaborations with India and Bangladesh, pursuing energy diplomacy.
On the foreign policy front, the party aims to pursue balanced and dynamic diplomacy to transform changing geopolitics and the emergence of neighboring powers into development opportunities for the country.
The party also aims to construct an East-West electric railway line for transporting passengers and goods and to connect the country's major cities, including Kathmandu and those in southern Nepal, with Indian and Chinese railway networks.
The commitment paper states that government service delivery will be provided to the people online, adding that the party aims to build a neutral, professional, and accountable public service system by separating bureaucracy from politics.
The party also aims to promote the digital economy to achieve high economic growth, increase productivity, and create quality employment opportunities.
The Himalayan nation's largest democratic party, Nepali Congress, released its manifesto with the slogan of "sustainable infrastructure, a strong economy, a secure future, and a developed Nepal."
The party prioritizes economic growth, the living standards of the people, residential and urban development, energy promotion, and connectivity expansion.
Party president and prime ministerial candidate Gagan Thapa released the manifesto.
