Nepal’s political crisis deepens after top court divides ruling party
Kathmandu, Mar 8 (efe-epa).- The Nepalese government’s crisis seemed to deepen on Monday a day after the Supreme Court annulled the merger of two parties: the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), that took place three years ago and helped them consolidate power.
The Himalayan country has been witnessing a dispute between these two factions of the combined formation, the Nepal Communist Party, after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s cabinet dissolved the parliament in December, only to have the decision revoked by the top court in February amid months of protests and instability.
On Sunday, the Supreme Court announced that it was revoking the unification of Oli’s CPN-UML and the CPN-M, led by former Maoist commander Pushpa Kamal Dahal, popularly known as Prachanda.
The court said that the ruling NCP’s registration was null and void because a party by the name was already in existence in the country earlier.
Nearly three years ago, Oli and Dahal had termed the merger of the two communist parties as historic, after their coalition registered a landslide victory in the general elections of 2017.
On Monday Dahal called an emergency meeting which made it clear that the rift in the government went beyond the division between the two parties, as some CPN-UML leaders also backed him.
These included former prime minister Jhalanath Khanal, a member of Oli’s party who has thrown his lot with Dahal. .
“We have decided to separate. We will struggle within the CPN-UML,” Khanal told EFE.
The cracks between the two factions first appeared last year when Dahal demanded a power-sharing arrangement which was denied by Oli, who was also accused of promoting corruption.
Subsequently, attempts to oust the prime minister from power led to him announcing the dissolution of the parliament.
In late February the Supreme Court overturned the dissolution, and Oli now has to prove majority in a vote of confidence amid widespread uncertainty in order to continue as prime minister.
Political analyst and constitutional lawyer Bhimarjuna Acharya told EFE that the prime minister could still save his seat if he manages to retain the support of Dahal’s CPN-M or reaches an agreement with opposition forces such as the opposition Nepali Congress. EFE-EPA
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