CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) are preparing to sign agreement on unification Monday evening.
The agreement is being signed today after one-on-one meetings held between UML Chairman and Prime Minister (PM) KP Oli and Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal held on Saturday and Sunday.
The meeting of unification coordination committee, that includes both the chairmen, has been called for 7 pm at the PM's official residence in Baluwatar. The parties are preparing to sign the agreement after that meeting.
Maoist Center leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha, when asked by Setopati whether the two parties are signing on the agreement today, said there is a strong chance of signing the agreement as agreement has been reached on all issues. UML leader Pradeep Gyawali, when asked the same question, also said there is chance of that happening.
The agreement for unification was set to be signed on February 14 but it was postponed in the eleventh hour. The unification process was delayed by a few days after UML leaders took a stance that the ideological line of the unified party must be People's Multiparty Democracy.
The agreement to be signed in the evening today will include both People's Multiparty Democracy and Maoism for deliberation until the general convention of unification.
The contents of People's Multiparty Democracy will be included in the agreement, according to a UML leader. "Mentioning in the agreement that these basic principles have been accepted even by the Maoists, the ideological lines of both the parties--People's Multiparty Democracy and Maoism--will be taken for deliberation and will be concluded in the general convention," the leader stated.
The two parties have already agreed for a bi-chairman system with both Oli and Dahal remaining co-chairmen until the general convention, and Oli and Dahal will take turn to become PM. The major units of both the parties--politburo, standing committee and central committees--will be vertically merged including all the members of those committees.
All these issues will be included in the agreement to be signed in the evening.
