Nepal: Seven communist parties including Prachanda led Maoist, strike 18-point agreement for unification

Kathmandu [Nepal], November 2 (ANI): In a major turn of events in Nepal following the Gen-Z uprising and the approaching March election, seven communist parties, including the Prachanda-led CPN (Maoist Centre), have signed an 18-point agreement for unification.
The agreement was signed late on Sunday evening in Kathmandu to form a unified party.
The party unity agreement was signed by CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (Unified Socialist), Nepal Socialist Party, CPN (Socialist), Jana Samajbadi Party, Nepal Communist Party (Maoist-Socialist), and CPN (Samyabadi). Chiran's faction, which split from the Biplav-led Communist Party, has also joined the new formation.
"The party's guiding ideology will be Marxism-Leninism, and its immediate strategy will focus on protecting the gains of the people's democratic revolution and laying the groundwork for socialism. The movement will remain peaceful, operating across streets, parliaments, and government fronts as circumstances require," one of the points of the agreement reads.
The agreement emphasises that unifying the broader communist movement is a historic necessity to achieve the goals of the socialist revolution. Participating parties pledged to safeguard the achievements of the federal democratic republic, national sovereignty, good governance, social justice, and socio-economic transformation while advancing toward scientific socialism.
According to the agreement, "a national unity conference will be held on November 5, during which the unified party will be formally announced, a manifesto and interim statute adopted, and the central committee formed. Within six months, a national unity convention will finalise the party structure."
As per the agreement made public, the new party will have a central committee, political committee, secretariat, and operational coordination committee.
However, the party name has not been finalised, but an agreement has been reached that its election symbol will be the 'five-pointed star'. Collective leadership and the principles of democratic centralism will guide party operations. Task forces will be formed at various levels for political reporting, programme planning, and organisational coordination.
Signatories to the agreement include former Prime Minister and Maoist Centre Coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', former Prime Minister and Unified Socialist Chair Madhav Kumar Nepal, Nepal Socialist Party Chair Mahendra Rai Yadav, Jana Samajbadi Party Chair Subash Raj Kafle, CPN (Socialist) Chair Raju Karki, CPN (Maoist-Socialist) Chair Chiran Pun, and CPN (Samyabadi) Chair Karnajit Budhathoki.
The unification announcement comes after the changed political scenario in Nepal following the September uprising and the fall of the KP Sharma Oli-led regime. The new government formed under the prime ministership of Sushila Karki has called for an election on March 5 next year. (ANI)