Nepal still looking for stability, as KP Oli is back as prime minister
The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist and the Nepali Congress have struck a deal to create a coalition between the two largest parties in parliament. Prachanda, head of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre, quit as prime minister after less than 20 months. According to experts, the repeated rotation of governments is preventing Nepal from giving direction to its development.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli was sworn in as prime minister of Nepal this morning for the fourth time, after the Nepali Parliament withdrew on Friday its confidence from his predecessor, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, ending a government established just 18 months ago.
Oli, 72, leads the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML), which has 78 seats in parliament. At the end of June, he struck a deal with the Nepali Congress (NC), a centrist party and a traditional rival, which won the largest number of seats, 89, in the last election in 2022.
Before withdrawing his support from Dahal last week, Oli struck a deal with NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba to create a coalition government and alternate the post of prime minister with Deuba before the next election in 2027.
In 2015, during his first term as prime minister, Oli, who is pro-Chinese, signed a trade deal with Nepal’s northern neighbour, ending what until then had been an Indian monopoly.
When he came back to power in 2018, the CPN-UML leader began to act in a more authoritarian manner, limiting freedom of expression and bringing the National Intelligence Department, the Department of Revenue Investigation, and the Department of Money Laundering under the Prime Minister's Office.
After attempting to dissolve parliament twice, he was ousted by the Supreme Court.
Dahal, during his last term changed coalition partners three times and asked for a vote of confidence four more times.
Known by the nom de guerre of Prachanda, Dahal, 69, heads the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-MC). After fighting in the civil war against the monarchy, he served as prime minister three times.
Although CPN-MC only has 32 seats in parliament, it managed to form a government with its leader as prime minister after the last election.
Since the monarchy was abolished in 2008, Nepal has had 14 governments. For some commentators, the country’s political instability is mainly due to internal factors, even though China and India have tried to exert their influence.
Despite their ideological proximity, the two communist parties, one Marxist-Leninist, the other Maoist, are only tied by bonds of convenience.
Past attempts to form an alliance between the two have always failed (the last in 2019), because Oli and Prachanda are unwilling to share power.
What is more, agreements to rotate the post of prime minister to form a government have not been respected.
When it is time to hand over power to the other party leader, alliances are reshuffled and a different government is formed but headed by the same prime minister. Prachanda has done so three times in the last year and a half.
This tends to undermine political institutions and weaken democracy, as well as prevent governments from putting into practice solutions to develop the country, experts say.
One example is tourism. Despite having several UNESCO sites, the tourist industry has not yet recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic because Nepal’s only international airport does not have modern facilities and cannot cope with increased air traffic.
Emigration is another major issue. In 2023 alone, some 1.6 million Nepalis (out of a population of about 30 million) left the country in search of work, with some Nepalis joining the armies of foreign countries, like Russia.
In the past two years, Nepal has had three different foreign ministers, who have failed to outline a coherent policy. As a result, some Nepalis stranded abroad recently asked India for help to be repatriated.
Several analysts are sceptical about Oli’s return to power since he was unable to create stability even when he was at the head of a majority government. Until a few weeks ago, he was still defending the legitimacy of past measures, pointed out Uddhab Pyakurel, a professor of political sociology at Kathmandu University.
What is more, the NC and the CPN-UML have always been ideologically rivals.
Yet, other observers believe that both the government and the opposition could put pressure so that the new government completes the mandate and Oli rotates the post of prime minister with Deuba when the time comes. It this were to happen it would be a first in Nepal's recent history.
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02/04/2009
16/02/2018 17:27
