Ten communist parties including the CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist) have announced party unification amid a function organised in Kathmandu on Wednesday. They have formed the unified Nepali Communist Party under the leadership of Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who was chairman of the Maoist Centre.

Unified Socialist chair Madhav Kumar Nepal is second-in-command as co-coordinator in the unified party.

Party leaders, including Dahal and Nepal, inaugurated the conference by jointly pressing a remote button to formally start the event.

Jhalanath Khanal of the Unified Socialist, who had been criticising the proposed unification campaign, eventually joined the camp after he was reportedly assured the third rank in the new party’s hierarchy after Dahal and Nepal.

Leader Mahindra Raya Yadav presented the leaders’ hierarchy proposal, which was approved unanimously.

Addressing the unity conference, senior leaders emphasised the need to end internal disputes and focus on policy-based debates.

Speaking at the ceremony, Khanal, who had held talks with UML chairman KP Sharma Oli a day earlier, urged party members to avoid personal attacks, warning that failure to correct past mistakes could lead to repeating previous setbacks.

“Let us think in a new way,” he said. “Let us identify a common platform for all communists and move forward without insulting one another.”

The unification brings together the Maoist Centre, CPN (Unified Socialist), Nepal Socialist Party, and other smaller leftist groups. However, some sections of the parties, such as Janardan Sharma and Ram Karki of the Maoist Centre, and Ghanashyam Bhusal and Ram Kumari Jhakri, among others, of the Unified Socialist, have opted out of the unification process.

Analysts have noted that several groups that merged lack a notable grassroots support, raising questions about the immediate influence and effectiveness of the newly proposed party.