The CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre) have decided to expedite the unification process soon, with the party unity coordination committee likely to iron out the outstanding issues of power sharing within the unified party and the government.

UML Chairman KP Oli and Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who met for the second consecutive day on Monday, decided to finalise the modality for party unification in a coordination committee meeting.

UML leaders Madhav Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal and Ishwor Pokhrel and Maoist Centre leaders Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Ram Bahadur Thapa are other members of the committee.

“As the two leaders have not finalised the major issues on power sharing, the issues would now be picked up during a meeting of party unity coordination committee,” said Maoist Centre leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha. The committee is meeting on Tuesday.

CPN Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal held meeting with the members of the party unity coordination committee from his party Shrestha and Thapa at the party headquarters.

UML Chairman KP Oli, while briefing the party’s standing committee meeting about his discussions with Dahal, told the fellow party leaders that Maoist Centre Chairman Dahal was “very much committed to the unification and therefore there is no need for the other leaders of the party to make position through media”. “Since we all are in the party unity coordination committee we can discuss all the issues of the unification there,” a standing committee member quoted Oli as saying. Earlier Dahal had also made a similar statement from Chitwan.

The party unity coordination committee meeting would form separate task forces to finalise the ideological and organisational issues for unification, said UML Secretary Yogesh Bhattarai.

During their meeting on Sunday evening, Oli and Dahal had decided to hold internal discussions before holding the meeting of the coordination committee.