Two major national left political forces - Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) and the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-Maoist Center) - merged to become the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) on May 17, 69 years after the communist movement gained momentum in the country with the establishment of a party by the same name, reports Kathmandu Post. The NCP announced a nine-member Central Secretariat. The NCP will have a 45-member Standing Committee and 441 Central Committee members. The Standing Committee comprises 26 CPN-UML and 19 CPN-Maoist Centre leaders while the Central Committee has 241 CPN-UML and 200 CPN-Maoist leaders. The development, hailed as “historic” by many, has created a single political party in the country with a strong hold in Parliament. The left alliance of the two parties formed in October garnered laudable public support in the federal and provincial elections held in December 2017.