Nepal's communists, unlike their comrades elsewhere, have a large mass following which was made possible by the party's adoption of the home-grown people's multi-party democracy.-Madhav Nepal

Communists and socialists from 19 countries and 28 organisations met in Kathmandu 5-10 November in a post-Soviet Union soul searching exercise that began in Pyongyang in 1992. The goal was to share experiences and try to devise ways to take carry socialism forward.

Luminaries at the opening included Sukomal Sen, represent-ing the Communist Party of India (Marxist); Yu Honhuan, chief of the research division of the International Department of the Communist Party of China; Betty F. Carlsson, leader of the Danish communists; D. Raja, member of the national council of Commu-nist Party of India; and Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist).

Conference convenor, Pradip Nepal, explained what the meeting was all about: to unify socialists the world over, to pull down the walls built by capital-ism and "to achieveglobalisation in the real sense-of the people, by the people". At the well-attended opening, keyed off by the singing of the "The Internationale" and amidst flag- waving uniformed cadres, General Secretary Nepal denounced forces backed by the "imperialist forces"-the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation.

Another highlight was a six-page speech by Nepal which traced the history of the Nepali communists, and after a meandering analysis of national and global developments came to the conclusion that "the validity of Marxism and Leninism has not diminished at all". He also explained the rationale behind UML's adoption of parliamentary politics as a method of class struggle. According to him, Nepal's communists, unlike their comrades elsewhere, have a large mass following which was made possible by the party's adoption of the home-grown people's multi-party democracy (PMPD). He explained that PMPD had a strategy against possible isolationism-a policy of compensating co-operative landowners for the smoother implementation of revolutionary land reforms.

"Different countries have different objective conditions and have different roads to socialism," said China's Yu. India's Raja agreed, extolling "undaunted" Cuba's stand against US imperial-ism, and the achievements of "victorious Vietnam" led by Ho Chi Minh. Raja said: "There's no alternative to socialism, no alternative to Marxism.socialism never fails."