CPN (Maoist Center) and Baburam Bhattarai-led Nepal Samajwadi Party (NSP) have again initiated unification process.
NSP had contested the general election last year with election symbol of Maoist Center. The two parties had held discussions in different stages for party unification after that but the discussions have yet to reach conclusion. They have again started discussions in the past few days and on November 19 agreed to form coordination committee for unification.
Coordinator of the Maoist talks team Krishna Bahadur Mahara and his NSP counterpart Ganga Narayan Shrestha issuing a statement have advised leadership of both the parties to form coordination committee for unification.
NSP accordingly discussed the issue of unification during the central executive committee meeting on Tuesday. It has also called central committee meeting from Wednesday to discuss the issue.
The parties are doing homework to form their respective coordination committees under leadership of Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Bhattarai, according to NSP Central Office Chief Roshan Pokharel. “We had made a nine-point proposal a long time ago. But the process did not move forward after the Maoists did not come with solid offers,” Pokharel added.
The parties are also discussing whether to name the unified party CPN or CPN (Socialist). Bhattarai has been saying it should be CPN (Socialist).
Maoist Center Chairman Dahal and General Secretary Dev Gurung had written to Mahindra Raya Yadav, another NSP chairman, for unification in September.
NSP has two chairmen. Bhattarai is the top-ranked chairman while Yadav ranks second.
The Bhattarai faction knew about the letter only from Yadav’s Facebook page.
Bhattarai, who quit parliamentary politics leaving his constituency to Dahal, had long been calling for formation of a grand socialist front. But Bhattarai and his party were not included when Maoist Center, CPN (Unified Socialist), Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) and the Netra Bikram Chand-led CPN formed the Socialist Front. Bitterness had developed between Dahal and Bhattarai after the Front was formed.
Bhattarai had then commented that unification was not possible as Dahal was focused on his selfish interests.
The meeting of Maoist office-bearers on September 11 had decided to instruct cadres to start discussion for changing name and take decision to change the party’s name in the next general convention.
The party’s central committee meeting held from August 1-6 in Kathmandu had formed a committee under Vice-chairman Krishna Bahadur Mahara to hold discussion for unification with other communist parties including former Maoists.
Mahara had been making efforts to bring Netra Bikram Chand into the party before that meeting but Dahal had instructed to keep unification on hold until the general convention deeming that some leaders in the party may be unhappy if Chand were inducted in the party and given responsibilities.
The party had earlier given up Maoist from the name while unifying with CPN-UML to form CPN in May 2018 but the Supreme Court (SC) invalidated the unification restoring the two parties to the state before unification.
The party has concluded that people associated the party with its violent past when it is named Maoist Center and decided to change the party’s name to give a message that the erstwhile rebels have changed now.
