Kathmandu January 24

The left alliance has not been able to form task forces to work on unification mainly because CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and CPN-Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal are yet to bridge the gap on two key issues: common ideology and organisational structure of the unified party.

According to a left alliance leader, Oli and Dahal are not calling the Party Unity Coordination Committee meeting as they are still divided on the two key issues. “If the task force is created without top leaders reaching understanding on the two key issues, then such a task force cannot work,” the leader added.

The left alliance leaders wanted to form two task forces to narrow down differences on political ideology and organisational structure.

Dahal has been publicly stating that without UML’s parliamentary politics, the Maoist movement would not have been a success and without the Maoist movement UML’s parliamentary politics would not have sustained. MC has not abandoned Maoism and UML has not abandoned people’s multiparty democracy.

According to a CPN-MC leader, both ideologies were outmoded and the two parties now needed to create a new ideology based on socialism. UML Deputy General Secretary Ghanashyam Bhusal has been publicly saying the same.

A CPN-MC leader said both parties should be ready to abandon the old ideology and form new ideas to achieve the goals of socialism. According to him, positive ideas of the old ideology could be incorporated in the new ideology of the unified party.

According to senior UML leader Jhalanath Khanal, who is also a member of Party Unity Coordination Committee, PUCC will give terms of reference to the task forces, which will work on the basis of the TOR. “We have been discussing the ideological and organisational structure and we will have a PUCC meeting soon and we will form the task force soon,” Khanal told The Himalayan Times.

The UML gives priority formation of new government and CPN-MC has been focusing on party unification.