CPN-Maoist Centre Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal today held one-on-one talks with Prime Minister and CPN-UML Chair KP Sharma Oli and dwelt on vexing issues of unification.

Dahal tweeted after the talks that they held discussion on reports presented by two task forces of the left alliance. “Both chairpersons held dialogue in a cordial environment. Discussion will continue tomorrow,” Dahal added.

Oli and Dahal have, however, not disclosed details of their talks, particularly the issues they have resolved and the ones that have yet to be resolved.

A member of CPN-MC Secretariat, Mani Thapa, said talks between PM Oli and CPN-MC Chair Dahal were positive today. “The two leaders have narrowed down their differences on key issues,” he said. The UML and the CPN-MC are yet to settle the ratio of representation of both parties in the unified party’s structures, the election symbol and whether or not the phrase ‘people’s war’ should be mentioned in the party’s statute.

According to The Himalayan Times, the left alliance’s two task forces led by senior UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal and senior CPN-MC leader and Minister of Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa have submitted their reports without sorting out these key issues and the Party Unification Coordination Committee had empowered Oli and Dahal to resolve the issues.

Dahal and other CPN-MC leaders have said that unification should happen on the basis of 50/50 representation ratio in the party structures.

Thapa said 50/50 representation of the CPN-UML and CPN-MC in the unified party’s top structures was his party’s bottom-line. “Ratio of our representation in the government is a different thing but our representation in the party’s structures is different. Unification deals with ideological issues of the two parties and hence it is a serious issue with long-term implications. We need to have equal representation in the party structures,” he said. He added that if unification issues were not resolved soon, his party would continue to talk to the UML. “We will continue to be part of left alliance as we continue to hold unification talks,” he added.