Maoist and NSP fail to unite, chapter closed

The much-anticipated chapter of unity between the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) and Nepal Samajwadi Party has come to a bitter end.

After months of negotiations and preparations, the two parties failed to reach a consensus, marking the collapse of the unity process. Despite their cooperation during the elections in last November, the ideological differences between Maoist Chair Prachanda and NSP Chair Baburam proved to be insurmountable obstacles.

According to a central committee member of the Nepal Samajwadi Party (NSP), there will be no immediate unity between the NSP and the Maoist Center as the Chairman of the Maoist Center, Prachanda, is not willing to abandon communist ideology.

He stated that Prachanda was unwilling to relinquish the communist ideology. Despite the party’s name being Socialist, Prachanda insisted that CPN, which stands for Communist Party of Nepal, be placed first. The leader explained that Baburam, having already disassociated from the communist ideology, refused to retain the communist name. As a result, despite negotiations, Prachanda did not agree to abandon the communist label and Baburam did not agree to accept it, leading to an impasse in the unity talks between the two parties.

However, he said that preparations are being made to form a socialist front comprising the Maoists, JSP, Unified Socialist, and NSP.

Similarly, NSP Chair Bhattarai has also said that the unity process between his party and the Maoists has come to a halt due to their outdated, arrogant behavior. In an interview with Nepal Views, Bhattarai mentioned that despite their long-standing cooperation with each other, unity could not be achieved because the Maoists still exhibit their old Maoist ways. “I helped in the election because we have cooperated for a long time. However, they did not seem ready to give up their old Maoist ways yet. There is no possibility of unity in the form of party right now,” said Bhattarai. He further added that there is a slim possibility of unity in the future if a socialist front is formed and the parties cooperate.