KATHMANDU, March 27: Leaders of the CPN (Maoist Center) have said that the party is in no hurry to wrap up the ongoing merger with the UML until issues pertaining to party statute, organization and ideology are settled.
 
The CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Center), two parties in the ruling coalition which last month struck a framework deal to form a unified Communist Party of Nepal, are working to draft a statute and develop modality to integrate the organizational setups of the two parties. 

Some UML leaders have been stressing the need for concluding the planned merger before Prime Minister KP Oli embarks on his official visit to India next month. Oli is likely to visit India in first week of April although neither government has made formal announcement of the visit.
 
But Maoist leaders said that they are not in favor of rushing into merger just to finalize the merger before PM Oli's India visit. 

"It's true that some UML leaders want to conclude the merger before prime minister's visit to India. But we don't want to rush into merger without first resolving all the issues pertaining to organization, ideology and statute," Maoist spokesperson Pampha Bhusal.

Cross-party leaders working to develop statue and common organizational modality of the unified party said that over 75 percent of work has been completed. But the two parties are still at odds over the division of power in the new party organization. 

While the UML has offered 40 percent stake to the Maoist Center in the unified party, Maoists have been demanding equal status.
 
Addressing his party's student leaders in the capital on Monday, Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said that there should be equal stake of two parties in all executive committees including the central committee.
 
"The unification will only happen if there is equal or 50/50 share of the two parties in party committee. If not, there won't be unification," Surendra Basnet, spokesperson of the All Nepal National Independent Students Union (Revolutionary), quoted Dahal as saying. Dahal also told student leaders that the party was not in favour of concluding the merger in haste.
  
"Our party wants a dignified status in the new party," said Dahal, informing the student leaders that the new party would follow Marxist-Leninist ideology. 

The two parties have already announced to adopt joint leadership model until general convention. 
Among other things, negotiators from the two parties have agreed to decentralize party structure into six executive committees. It includes the Central Committee, provincial committees, district committees, rural/municipal committees, ward committees and election booth committees.
The Central Committee will act as the party's steering committee with two strong bodies -- the politburo and the standing committee -- under its purview.
 
Leaders said that the Central Committee will not have more than 350 members, while the politburo and standing committees will comprise around 100 and 35 members, respectively. UML and Maoist Center are likely to have 60 and 40 percent stakes in the unified party, respectively. 

 
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