Nepal: Splinter communist parties from CPN-UML led by Oli merge together as nation warms up for next general election

Kathmandu [Nepal], July 18 (ANI): Two splinter communist parties that had parted ways from Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli-led CPN-UML have merged together as the Himalayan Nation warms up for the next general election due in 2027.

The CPN- Unified Socialist, led by Madhav Kumar Nepal, and the CPN Unity National Campaign, led by Bamdev Gautam, announced their merger on Friday at a ceremony held at City Hall in Kathmandu. With the merger, Bamdev Gautam, the campaign coordinator, has formally joined the CPN-Unified Socialist, which was formed after a split with CPN-Unified Marxist Leninist led by KP Sharma Oli following the intra-party rift.

According to the merger agreement, Gautam, a former Home Minister, has been appointed to the third most senior position in the Unified Socialist Party, following party chair Madhav Kumar Nepal and senior leader Jhalanath Khanal.

The leaders announced that they had decided to unite following a consensus on political ideology, principles, programs, strategies, and direction. The leaders said that the unification aims to strengthen Nepal's communist movement through broader left unity.

"Today, we are giving a fresh start to the unity campaign. The unity campaign hasn't ended, this is just the process to start the unification, and this will continue," Madhav Kumar Nepal, Chairman of the CPN-Unified Socialist, said, addressing the event.

The Unified Socialist and the group led by Gautam had split from the CPN-UML in 2021 and had been operating separately since. Over the past four years, both sides engaged in formal and informal negotiations towards party reunification.

Leaders on both sides said that the merger represents a significant milestone in building a united front for Nepal's leftist forces and in countering political fragmentation within the communist bloc.

"Unity really is enthralling and sweet. This unification is the result of the desire that all the communists in Nepal had wanted. Cadres and party members had wanted this unification and want a united party, unfortunately because of some leaders in the forefront of the communist movement the party had to be torn off and remains divided," Jhalanath Khanal, former Prime Minister and second-in-line leader of the CPN-Unified Socialist said addressing the gathering jibbing on incumbent Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, also the chair of CPN-UML.

In 2021, after breaking off from CPN-UML, both the former Prime Minister's duo, Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal, had formed the CPN (Unified Socialist), but Gautam chose not to join the new party. Gautam, at the time, launched his own CPN Unity National Campaign, announcing that he would work to bring all communist forces under a single umbrella by not joining any side, including the CPN-UML, the US, or the Maoist Centre. Although multiple rounds of talks were initiated, an agreement ultimately didn't materialise.

"We should have a unified communist party, that's why we should unify all those splinter communist groups. The unification between the CPN-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) and the CPN-Maoist Centre, led by KP Sharma Oli, was never on the opposite side. It was Madhav (Kumar Nepal) and I who were ready for it, and we also could bring him to the table of agreement at the end, and the party was unified," Gautam recalled on Friday again, stressing unification.

Failing to convince other parties of the need for unification, Gautam has eventually chosen to merge his faction into the Unified Socialist, which holds 10 seats in the House of Representatives and eight in the National Assembly. With Gautam on board, the CPN-Unified Socialist now has 9 seats in the upper house.

The merger between the two splinter parties at this juncture coincides with the approaching periodic general elections, expected in 2027. With political parties already starting to talk and make preparations for the expected general election, the merger between the communist factions is expected to peak in the coming days.

Although the leaders expressed their interest and willingness to merge all the communist factions into one, Madhav Kumar Nepal, the chairman of the CPN-Unified Socialist, ruled out any possibility of merger with the CPN-UML led by Oli.

Out on bail in the Patanjali land scam, the former Prime Minister announced, "If we are searching for the possibility of unification with the CPN- Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), then there is no chance of unification. Standing at this point in time, there is no possibility of unification with the CPN-UML. We have seen the situation inside that party. I have no comment on it, if someone has even the slightest expectation over it. But talking about the relation with this party (CPN-Unified Socialist), the statement from the leaders of that party (CPN-UML) is self-explanatory." (ANI)

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