A coalition of Nepal’s largest communist parties won national elections held in late November and early December. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) together won two-thirds of the seats in parliament. Their electoral victory reflects Nepal’s continued deep poverty and underdevelopment that have only deepened under the neoliberal agenda adopted by previous governments.

Nepal has a population of almost 30 million, 70 percent of whom live in the countryside.

For decades, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have pushed privatization as a way for Nepal to get out of extreme poverty — defined as living on less than $2 a day. Resisting this imperialist penetration of the economy and the semi-feudal landlord class who ruled the countryside was an2.8 million in 2014. Squatter settlements are rising in such fast-growing cities as Kathmandu and Pokhara.

This trend intensified after the mountainous country was hit in 2015 by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Almost 9,000 people died and a million lost their homes. The resulting huge loss of agricultural production pushed a million more people below the poverty line. After this, large numbers of people left Nepal looking for work.

Remittances from relatives working abroad have become a major source of hard currency for their families and for the national economy. The number of households dependent on remittances has reached 56 percent. Remittances make up 25 percent of the gross domestic product.

Nepal has historically been under the shadow of India. The largest bourgeois party in Nepal is the Congress Party, which