KATHMANDU, July 26: Rabindra Mishra-led Sajha Party and Ujwal Thapa-led Bibeksheel Nepali Dal inked a unification deal amid a press conference in the capital on Wednesday. After the merger, the unified party has been named as Bibeksheel Sajha Party (BSP), which has vowed to establish a capable alternative force to lead the nation.

The unification has been based on equality, inducting both Mishra and Thapa as joint-coordinators of the party which has equal 17 members from the both the constituent parties as central committee members. The party will have no coordinator until the general convention to be held in the near future.

Addressing the unification declaration function, joint-coordinator of BSP Mishra assured that the party may perish but will not become corrupt.  “We may perish but we will never engage in corruption. We may make mistakes but we will never lose integrity,” Mishra said. Well wishers of the party applauded the former BBC journalist Mishra’s speech in the jam-packed hall in Kathmandu.

Accusing the established political parties of failing to lead the country to prosperity, Mishra urged all to either point out the flaws of the party or to accept it as the political force that can really bring change in the country. “Established parties fought a lot and succeeded to deliver us the rights but they failed to lead the struggle for prosperity of the country,” he said.

Explaining about the unification motive, another joint-coordinator Thapa said that the unified party will become a platform for all people who want change in the country. “This party will work for sweeping away the anomalies in politics. This will be a platform for all rational and common forces,” said Thapa.

The party’s 34-member central committee will be expanded to 51 and seven leaders will be appointed as coordinator of each of the seven provinces. The party’s election symbol has been finalized as weighing scale.

What led to the unification?

According to BSP joint-coordinator Thapa, common values, agenda and understanding among the leadership led both the parties to unification. Asked about whether the party can unite with Baburam Bhattarai-led Naya Shakti party, as both parties have the same agenda of prosperity, Thapa said it was not only the agenda that led the party unification.

“The need for honest politics resulted in the unification of Bibeksheel and Sajha parties,” said a mediator of the talks in the press meet. According to the party leaders, some civil society members and well wishers of both the parties mediated for the unification.
The unified party will adopt a center-left political ideology according to the party joint-coordinator Mishra.

 
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