Eight parties, including Maoists, sign 18-point agreement for unity

KATHMANDU:  Seven leftist parties have agreed to form a unified party, formalized through an 18-point agreement announced on Sunday. 

The party unity agreement was signed by CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (Unified Socialist), and six other parties.

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 agreement emphasizes 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.

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.

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 finalize the party structure.

The new party will have a central committee, political committee, secretariat, and operational coordination committee. While the party name has not been finalized, its election symbol will be the ‘five-pointed star’. Collective leadership and principles of democratic centralism will guide party operations. Task forces will be formed at various levels for political reporting, program planning, and organizational coordination.

Signatories to the agreement include: Maoist Centre Coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, 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.