Kathmandu, February 12

A nine-member task force of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) is being dissolved without making recommendations to finalise party unification.

Although the erstwhile CPN-MC and CPN-UML merged to form NCP, unification of lower level committees and sister organisations has yet to be completed.

NCP co-chairpersons KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal reached an understanding to dissolve the task force after a three-hour discussion at Prime Minister Oli’s residence in Baluwatar today.

The task force was asked to prepare a roadmap for unification of lower level party committees and sister organisations by January 10, but it failed to finalise its report. The task force had sought extension of its tenure, but Oli and Dahal did not entertain the idea.

“The two co-chairs will do the spadework themselves to finalise unification and will present their report in the secretariat meeting for endorsement,” an NCP leader told THT after the Oli-Dahal meeting. The secretariat will present the report in the standing committee meeting.

Task force Coordinator Ram Bahadur Thapa and General Secretary Bishnu Poudel also attended the Oli-Dahal meeting for a while, where they were asked to furnish their report in whatever form it was, according to sources. Thapa and Poudel are planning to submit the report within a few days.

Although Thapa and Poudel had prepared a three-page report, it was rejected by task force members representing a faction led by senior NCP leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.

Task force General Secretary Bishnu Poudel, Province 5 Chief Minister Shankar Pokharel and Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transportation Raghubir Mahaseth are in the task force representing the Oli faction.

Minister of Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa, Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Barshaman Pun and former minister Lekharaj Bhatta represent the Dahal faction in the task force, while former finance minister Surendra Pandey, lawmaker Yogesh Bhattarai and leader Beduram Bhusal are from the Nepal faction.

The task force had set an 11-point agenda to make recommendations, but could not agree on issues related to reshuffling of provincial committees and statute amendment.

According to a source, Oli and Dahal have intensified discussions on unification in the past few days.

The task force had to recommend office bearers of district committees, party departments, sister organisations and the politburo, besides giving suggestions on reviewing the party statute.

As per the direction from Oli and Dahal, province party chairs have forwarded a circular to their respective province committees. According to Province 3 party chair Narayan Dahal’s circular, the party will hold programmes to celebrate people’s war day tomorrow. The programme will be organised remembering ‘the people’s war and mass movement’ across the country. Dahal will address the programme in the party headquarters, NCP leader Krishna Gopal Shrestha told THT.