Prime Minister (PM) and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal are meeting to discuss party unification Thursday morning.
Press coordinator to Dahal Bishnu Sapkota said Dahal reached the PM's official residence in Baluwatar to talk with Oli. The two parties are preparing to announce the date of unification on the occasion of birth anniversary of Karl Marx on Saturday.
The meeting of coordination committee for unification is also likely to be convened today itself.
Dahal, during the central secretariat meeting on Wednesday, had instructed the secretariat to update the report on state of organization. He had also briefed that unification will soon be announced.
The parties have already postponed the unification scheduled for April 22 citing lack of adequate homework. The meeting of coordination committee for unification has sent the report prepared by the two task forces formed to expedite unification to the two chairmen for finalization. The two leaders have been regularly holding one-on-one meetings to finalize unification.
The parties have yet to agree on some issues including representation at the top level of the unified party. The major difference between the two parties currently is on the issue of representation at the top level. Maoist Center says there should be equal representation in the standing, politburo and central committees but UML disagrees.
The task force including leaders from both the parties has almost agreed on a 300-strong central committee. UML central committee currently has 209 members, and UML leaders have proposed to add Maoist leaders to take the number to 300.
UML argues there cannot be equal sharing in the central committee after the two parties shared tickets in 60:40 proportion in the recent federal and provincial elections, and candidacy for the National Assembly election in 70:30 proportion.
Maoist Center disagrees and argues that doing so would seem like a takeover of Maoist Center by UML instead of unification, and proposes that unification should be done in a manner that self-respect of both the parties is honored to make the unified party strong even in the future.
But the most important issues reportedly is Dahal seeking guarantee that he would be met the consensus chairman of the unified party after the next general convention.
