KATHMANDU: The ruling coalition partners, CPN-UML and CPN Maoist Centre, have finally reached an agreement on unification of the two parties and signed a seven point agreement on the modality of the unification.

As per the agreement, the new party will be named Communist Party of Nepal (CPN). The agreement further states that Marxism-Leninism will be the guiding principle of the party.

UML Chairman and Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli, Jhala Nath Khanal, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Bam Dev Gautam and Ishwor Pokharel have signed the agreement on behalf of UML whereas Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, senior leaders Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Ram Bahadur Thapa have signed the agreement on behalf of the Maoist Centre.

The seven point agreement jointly signed by leaders of CPN-UML and CPN MC

The agreement has been signed on conclusion of the Party Unification Coordination Committee meeting held at Baluwatar this evening. Chairmen of both the parties had held several rounds of one-on-one talks prior to this agreement.

As per the agreement, People's Multiparty Democracy ('Janata ko Bahudaliya Janawad' popularly known as Ja-Ba-Ja as propagated by late UML leader Madan Bhandari) and Maoism will be deliberated upon as the ideological lines of the party at the general convention of the unified party.

It is expected that  KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal will co-chair the party in a bi-chairman system until the general convention and that both will take turns in leading the government.

(Photo courtesy: Pradeep Gyawali)

Likewise, there have been talks of major party units to be vertically merged including the committee members.

The seven-point deal

• Unified party to be called the Nepal Communist Party
• Its general convention to take the final call on the party’s ideology
• Till then Marxism and Leninism will be the ideological stand of the unified party
• The strength of the standing committee, politburo and central committee will be small
• Oli and Dahal to take turns to become the PM and to evenly split the tenure
• Posts of the president and deputy speaker of the Parliament will go to UML and speaker and the vice-president to CPN MC
• Ministerial berths decided

नेकपा (एमाले) र नेकपा (माओवादी केन्द्र)बीच पार्टी एकीकरणका आधारहरुबारे ऐतिहासिक सहमति https://t.co/oZ2UoYTIM9 pic.twitter.com/1NGIdKF1aV

— ☭ Comrade Prachanda (@cmprachanda) February 19, 2018