The merger between ruling left alliance, CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre), has taken a backseat with the two parties busy in Cabinet expansion and Parliament proceedings.

Earlier, the two parties had made a tentative arrangement of announcing the union by mid-March, within a week of the party unification task forces submitting the draft statute and political report for the new party. The two task forces were unable to deliver the report by March 9 deadline, and they have demanded 10 more days to finalise the report.

The two parties have now proposed April 22 as the date for their merger. The day bears a great significance for the country’s communist movement because the Communist Party of Nepal was formed on that day in Calcutta in 1949. 

“We are preparing to announce the merger on the day the Communist Party of Nepal was established,” said Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Maoist Centre leader and member of one of the party unification task forces.

He said the two task forces have already completed the major aspects of the political report and the draft statute for the new party.

“The task forces will have more time to fine-tune the report until April 22,” he said.

Another task force member and UML leader Surendra Pandey said the unification process was delayed owing to the conflicting schedule of some task force members.

“Some task force members have been appointed ministers and they were tied to their official responsibilities. The parliament members were also busy in House proceedings,” he said.  

Ram Bahadur Thapa, who is the coordinator of one of the unification task forces, has been appointed the home minister while members Ishwor Pokhrel and Matrika Yadav have been appointed the minister of defence and the minister of industry, commerce and supplies respectively. Dev Gurung has been appointed the chief whip of the CPN (Maoist Centre) parliamentary party.