Rename your alliance: EC to warring CPN factions

Kathmandu, March 9

Nepal’s Election Commission on Tuesday asked the CPN (UML) led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the CPN (Maoist Centre) led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ to come up with a new name and election symbol of the party if they decide to merge their parties again, days after the Supreme Court quashed the 2018 unification of the two parties.

During a meeting of the top election body on Tuesday, it was decided to uphold the apex court’s verdict and scrap the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) with the registration number 145 in its record, My Republica newspaper reported.

The EC asked Sandhya Tiwari, the chief of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), and Gopal Kirati, the chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center), to propose new names and election symbols within 15 days if they opt for fresh merger, the paper said.

With the apex court’s verdict, the NCP’s 174 seats in parliament will now be divided based on the number of seats won by the CPN (UML) and CPN (Maoist Centre) prior to their merger into the NCP after the parliamentary election in 2017. — PTI

Party scrapped by Supreme Court

• During a meeting of the top election body on Tuesday, it was decided to uphold the apex court’s verdict and scrap the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) with the registration number 145 in its record
• The CPN (UML) and CPN (Maoist Centre) merged in May 2018 to form a unified Nepal Communist Party following victory of their alliance in the 2017 general election.