Kathmandu, September 24, 2007

Five years after the split, the Nepali Congress and the NC (Democratic) will make a formal announcement of unification tomorrow. Today’s NC Mahasamiti meeting endorsed the unification proposal presented by NC vice-president Sushil Koirala. NC President Girija Prasad Koirala and NC (D) President Sher Bahadur Deuba will join hands amidst thousands of party supporters at the joint Mahasamiti meeting of both the parties to be held at NC party office in Sanepa. Before that, the two leaders are meeting tomorrow morning to “thrash out some technicalities” that include demand of the NC for one more general secretary and the NC(D) demanding a vice president. Accentuating NC’s “role, responsibility and contribution” in making a New Nepal, elated PM told a closed-door session of the Mahasamiti at the party office that unification between the two parties was “inevitable” to take the responsibility of “resolving the crises faced by the country, to consolidate loktantra, to lead the country towards stability and peace and to hold November 22 constituent assembly elections.” “Unification will send a signal, both inside and outside the country, that Nepal is entering a new phase,” PM Koirala said. He urged the Mahasamiti members to “sacrifice” for the people and the country. “When I, as a commander, am ready to sacrifice, you all have to be ready for it,” Koirala added. His call for unification was met with a unanimous positive response by the Mahasamiti, which gave Koirala the right to give final touches to the unification.

Leftist parties working on electoral alliance

Kathmandu, September 24, 2007

With the Nepali Congress and Nepali Congress-Democratic uniting following the mahasamiti meetings of the respective parties, the Leftist parties are also gearing up for electoral alliance, according to sources. A source close to CPN-UML told this daily that the Leftist forces could also make an electoral alliance. The CPN-UML and the Maoist would get the lion’s share in the electoral alliance while the fringe left parties would get the seats according to their strength in the interim parliament, according to the source. Senior Maoist leader Dr Baburam Bhattarai, however, told this daily that no progress had been made towards electoral alliance because of “uncertainty” on constituent assembly polls. Electoral alliance among the Leftists could become possible only after the interim parliament declares the country a republic, Dr Bhattarai said. He said the Nepali Congress was also going to pass a resolution for a federal democratic republican order, which is a “welcome step” to ensure the polls. “But that is not enough. Interim parliament should pass the agenda of a republic,” he said.