The nine-member task force formed by the recent Standing Committee meeting of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has started its work to complete the remaining task of unifying the erstwhile CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre) at the local level.

The task force was formed to see the merger process through by finalising the district committees, list of party’s politburo members and division of work among the central committee members, who have been jobless ever since the two communist parties unified in May 2018.

“Though we have not set any deadline, we plan to complete the work at the earliest,” said Beduram Bhusal, a task force member.

Since the two co-chairmen, KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, had proposed the meeting to complete the unification within mid-January, they have instructed the task force not to delay.

The task force will finalise the district chair, secretary, in-charge, joint in-charge and the members from the recommendations made by separate panels formed earlier to facilitate the unification. Earlier, the leaders close to Madhav Kumar Nepal had objected to the recommendations, claiming that the Oli faction wrested control of the NCP leadership in most districts.

However, with three leaders from the Nepal camp, Yogesh Bhattarai, Surendra Pande and Beduram Bhusal, present in the nine member task force, the ongoing conflict is expected to be resolved. The other task force members are Ram Bahadur Thapa, Barshaman Pun and Lekhraj Bhatta from the Dahal faction and Bishnu Poudel, Raghubir Mahaseth and Shankar Pokhrel from the Oli bloc.

“There will be formal and informal discussion before finalising the committees,” said Bhatta, another task force member. “As most of the works have already been completed by the previous committees, we will soon complete the merger process.”  

The task force will also finalise chairman, secretary and members of the central commissions; chief, deputy, secretary and members of the 35 central departments; leadership of the party’s sister wings; national representatives council; national advisors council and central elderly communist forum.