KATHMANDU, Oct 24: Nepali Communist Party (NCP) Coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal has ruled out the possibility of immediate party unification with the CPN-UML, while leaving the door open for cooperation on national issues.
Speaking to journalists on Saturday at the launch of his party’s ‘Party Awakening Campaign’ at its central office in Paris Danda, Dahal said the two parties had fundamentally different political characters and that cooperation should not be confused with party unity. “We are ready to cooperate with anyone, if necessary, to safeguard national sovereignty, democratic rights and the interests of the country. However, this does not mean that we will unify with the CPN-UML,” he said.
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Dahal also sought to dispel what he described as confusion among the public about the continued existence of the Maoist movement. He said the NCP was formed through the merger of 26 communist groups of various sizes, including the then CPN (Maoist Centre) and the CPN (Unified Socialist).
According to him, the merger brought together the ideologies and political aspirations of these groups under a single party. Although the party’s name has changed several times since the peace process began, he maintained that its fundamental political direction and pro-people agenda remain unchanged.
Dahal also criticized the alliance between the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML, accusing the two largest parliamentary parties of joining hands to remove his party from government while it was pursuing an agenda of good governance, social justice and prosperity. “We had already warned that an alliance between the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML could lead the country into a crisis,” he said.
Reiterating his party’s position, Dahal said political cooperation with other forces remained possible whenever national interests and democratic rights required it. However, he stressed that such cooperation should not be interpreted as a step toward party unification with the UML.