The leader of the CPN (Unified Socialist), Jhala Nath Khanal, ruled out immediate unification with the CPN-UML.
Speaking to Setopati on Wednesday, Khanal stated that unity with those who have a similar ideology is natural, but added that the party formed after the split from UML will not unite with anyone immediately.
There have been rumors about the party’s unification with UML after CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli proposed making the unified socialist chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal the next chairman, but Khanal expressed ignorance on the matter.
He stressed that the party was not like the vegetables that are kept in the market for sale and could not be acquired by others in exchange for any stall. “This is a party with some policies, systems, ideologies and integrity. We should, therefore, talk on a formal basis if we have to talk to someone. I don’t know those things so far. It’s another matter if I have not yet said But I haven’t been informed until now.”
He said that if the party had to unify with the UML it should be done institutionally and ideologically. He also refuted rumors that he had also been offered the position of president. “No one has formally presented such a proposal to me.”
Asked if the pre-election coalition will be reactivated, he joked that Prime Minister (PM) Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s preparations seemed to point to that.
Dahal resigned from the coalition with NC and Unified Socialist on December 25, 2022 and became Prime Minister with the support of CPN-UML, Rastriya Swatantra Party, RPP, Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP), Janamat Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party later Nepalese Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba refused to appoint him first prime minister.
UML has been saying the party should get the post of president as per the power-sharing deal reached with Dahal at the time of forming the government, while Prime Minister Dahal has been talking about the national consensus for president ever since NC voted for his government during the session. Try on January 10.
Dahal has not specified what that national consensus is, but several party sources have confirmed that the Maoist Center seems willing to support the NC candidate in the presidential elections.
Khanal also said that it would be better to choose the next president through a national consensus. “If that doesn’t happen, we can’t say that it can’t be done by majority. The laws allow it.”
