Kathmandu, April 24

Prime Minister and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and CPN-Maoist Centre Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal today agreed to formulate a new programme on the basis of the guiding principles of Marxism, Leninism and Socialism in their one-on-one meeting in Baluwatar.

“Socialism is a common ideology, but the programme for attaining socialism should be formulated as a concrete programme,” sources said after the Oli-Dahal meeting. According to sources, Oli and Dahal also discussed adjustment of leaders and cadres from the top to the bottom.

They discussed how to adjust leaders and cadres all at levels — centre, provinces, districts, metropolis, sub-metropolis, municipals, rural municipals and, wards. Each of these levels will have chairperson and secretaries as recommended by senior CPN-MC leader and Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa, who had been assigned to finalise the organisational structure and statute of the unified party.

The left alliance has already agreed that the UML’s people’s multiparty democracy and CPN-MC’s people’s democracy in the 21st century and Maoism will be harmonised by the general convention of the unified party, which will be held within two years. The Thapa-led taskforce had recommended 299 members in the central committee of the unified party. Oli and Dahal had agreed to create a 400-member central committee, 200 for each party, but senior UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal had opposed this plan.

According to sources, PM Oli and Dahal have agreed to do homework in their parties and to hold the next meeting soon. They have been discussing disputed issues but have not reached any conclusion yet.

CPN-MC Chair Dahal left for Chitwan today and will be back in Kathmandu on Thursday.