The ruling CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) have reached a 'breakthrough' in talks aimed at forming a unified communist party, leaders from the two sides said.

After more than two dozen one-on-one meetings, UML Chairman and Prime Minister KP Oli and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Wednesday ended a long uncertainty over the merger agreeing, in principle, on the modality of power sharing between the two parties.

The leaders would not provide exact details but said that all disputed issues over leadership, organization and ideology have been resolved.

A meeting of the party unification committee would announce the date for official announcement of merger possibly on Thursday, coinciding with the death anniversary of former UML General Secretary Madan Bhandari. The unification is likely to be announced in the next few weeks.

According to My Republica, the unification committee meeting, which has been called for Thursday morning, is scheduled to endorse Wednesday's understanding and will give it a written shape.

“To quote the prime minister's words, it is work in progress. We will have to wait until the unification committee meeting to find out exact details of the agreement,” Bihsnu Rimal, Prime Minister Oli's chief political advisor, told Republica.

Leaders said Oli and Dahal have successfully resolved disputes on all issues pertaining to the merger.

Hours after the meeting, UML and CPN (Maoist Center) separately held meetings to brief their leaders about the progress made in the talks. Both chairmen had said that they were inching closer to an agreement on unification.

Wednesday's development comes two months after the two sides signed a framework deal agreeing to form the Communist Party of Nepal.

During the signing of the seven-point framework agreement on February 19, leaders of the two parties had given a month's deadline for the merger but it could not happen due to differences over power-sharing and ideological differences between the two parties.