KATHMANDU: Senior CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Jhalanath Khanal has opposed his party’s proposed unification with the Maoist Centre, saying it is “not the right time for merger.”

In a written statement from New Delhi, where he is attending to his wife’s treatment, Khanal urged the party to first conduct a “ruthless review” of its four-year journey since splitting from the UML. He warned against “taking the wrong path that could push the party into a pit.”

Khanal accused his party chair Madhav Kumar Nepal and other left leaders of drifting toward right-wing politics and signing “humiliating deals” with foreign powers, which he said has pushed the country into crisis.

Instead of a merger, he called for forming a broad national front to prepare for the upcoming elections and urged all leftist and progressive forces to unite for socialist transformation.

Commenting on the Gen Z movement, Khanal said the youth protests are not merely emotional or foreign-driven but a result of leadership failure by all ruling parties, including his own.

He stressed that political parties must take responsibility and guide the nation in the right direction.