The Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has finalised the names of Standing Committee members. The party which has been formed following merger between erstwhile CPN-UML and erstwhile CPN (Maoist Centre) has 45-members in the Standing Committee (SC).

The party will make the formal announcement of the decision on Friday, sources said.

While the erstwhile UML had finalised SC members last week, the then Maoist Centre took longer to zero in on names as the number of hopefuls in the party was significantly high.

The two parties have agreed to form the SC with 26 leaders from the then UML and the rest from the then Maoist Centre. NCP Co-chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has reportedly finalised the 19 names from the Maoist Centre, while other Co-chairmen and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal had completed the task for the then UML.

Leaders, including Devendra Poudel, Ganesh Shah and Madi Thapa, who had joined the then Maoist Centre at different times have been inducted as SC members.

According to NCP leader Bishnu Rijal, the selection of candidate from the erstwhile UML was relatively easier as the party had 26 SC members even before the merger. The UML has retained 22 members of the party’s previous SC. Four leaders of the erstwhile UML SC—Amrit Kumar Bohora, Keshav Badal, Pushpa Kadel and Somnath Pyasi—were left out as their status as invited members in the party makes them ineligible for any position including the SC.

NCP Central Committee member Rijal added that four new faces—Bishnu Rimal, Raghuji Panta, Beduram Bhusal and Raghubir Mahaseth—have been picked from the erstwhile UML. Mahaseth is also minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport.

As for the erstwhile Maoist Centre, two leaders—Amik Serchan and Peshal Khatiwada—have been given the status of invited members. But that decision attracted criticism from Bohora and Serchan. Bohora said he had written to party Co-chair Oli, stating that the decision had been made by amending the interim party statute without holding proper discussion. “I was elected by the ninth general convention of the erstwhile UML as chairman of party’s Central Disciplinary Commission. So, it isn’t appropriate to make such a decision without consultation,” Bohora said, adding that Oli had assured him of proper consideration over the matter.

Nembang is NCP’s deputy party leader

The Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has appointed Subas Chandra Nembang as Parliamentary Party deputy leader in the House of Representatives and Dev Gurung as

chief whip. A meeting of the NCP Parliamentary Party held in New Baneshwor on Wednesday made the decisions.

Similarly, the meeting also decided to appoint Shanta Chaudhary as the whip, the NCP said in a statement.

Prior to the party unification, Nembang was the deputy leader of the then CPN-UML’s Parliamentary Party and Gurung the chief whip of the then CPN (Maoist Centre). Likewise, lawmaker Dinanath Sharma has been appointed NCP Parliamentary Party deputy leader in the National Assembly.