Senior leaders of CPN (Unified Socialist), including Jhalanath Khanal and General Secretary Ghanshyam Bhusal’s close allies, expressed dissatisfaction over the ongoing merger talks with the Maoists during a meeting held in Baneshwor on Sunday.
The gathering concluded that instead of pursuing unity with only the Maoists, the party should take the initiative for a broader left unity that includes leadership transition, participants said.
Led by Jeevan Ram Shrestha, the meeting was attended by Ram Kumari Jhakri, Vijay Paudel, Hari Parajuli, and others. They termed Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal’s one-sided negotiations with the Maoists as “irrelevant.”
The latest round of discussions, attended by leaders from all seven provinces, also noted that—except for Koshi Province—there are serious problems in the Socialist–Maoist alliance across other provinces.
Leaders in the meeting stressed that a merger only with the Maoists is unacceptable and that efforts should focus on achieving broader left unity with generational leadership transfer.
During the discussion, some participants even suggested that Chairman Nepal should step down to enhance his political stature. Nepal is currently facing a corruption case over the Patanjali land issue and has been suspended from his parliamentary seat. Earlier, senior leader Khanal had also demanded in writing during a party meeting that Nepal resign from the party chairmanship.
Meanwhile, most leaders close to Khanal argued that instead of merging with the Maoists, the Unified Socialist should consider returning to its original home—the UML.
About the Author
