Nepal's CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist merge; form new powerful bloc

Nepal's CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre have merged and formed a new powerful bloc after they secured a sweeping majority in the historic federal and provincial polls.
The Left Alliance of the CPN-UML, led by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and CPN-Maoist Centre, led by former premier Prachanda, had in December secured 174 seats in the 275-member Parliament in the provincial and parliamentary polls that many hope will bring the much-needed political stability to the Himalayan nation.
The two communist allies, in a meeting last night, agreed for the merger, The Kathmandu Post reported.
The meeting of the Party Unification Coordination Committee (PUCC) held in Baluwatar spelt out seven points of the agreement to further the unification process, it said.

The unified party will be named the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN), the report said.
"With this agreement, the Maoist Centre will join the government," said Narayan Kaji Shrestha, a PUCC member.

He said the two parties would now sit for finalising the sharing of government portfolios and other powerful positions.
According to the agreement, Oli and Prachanda will share the party chair in equal capacity. The duo would also share the five-year term of prime minister, the report said.
Marxism and Leninism will shape the unified party's political ideology, which will accept multi-party system as a form of democratic practice with the ultimate goal of socialism, the report added.

In October last year, the two parties, in a surprise move, had announced a pre-poll alliance and said that they would go for merger following the federal and provincial elections.
The Nepali Congress (NC), led by former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, faced a humiliating defeat in the historic parliamentary and provincial assembly polls, winning just 23 seats out of a total 165 seats.