Nepal plunges into political crisis as China's gambit flops

NEW DELHI: Chinas desperate attempts to bring about a patch-up between the two warring factions of the Nepal Communist Party have come a cropper, plunging the Himalayan country into a political crisis at a time when the deadly Covid-19 pandemic has also peaked in the country.

After the fall of the KP Sharma Oli government on Monday, Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari has called the country's political parties to form a new government by Thursday. She has asked Oli to be the caretaker prime minister till then.

According to sources, during the past couple of weeks, Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Hou Yanqi, had lobbied with senior Nepalese MPs to gather support for Oli to ensure his victory in the vote of confidence on the floor of Parliament.

China wants someone loyal to Beijing as PM and it was concerned over the weakening communist influence in South Asia with the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) splitting into two factions - one led by prime minister Oli, and the second by former prime minister Prachanda, who is also the executive chairman of the party.

Chinese ambassador Hou Yanqi's efforts to settle the differences between Oli and Prachanda proved futile and last week, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) a key faction led by Pushpakamal Dahal "Prachanda" withdrew support to the government. Consequently, Oli lost the vote of confidence in Parliament on Monday.

Many analysts believe that Oli is down but he still has a chance to regain power.

Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari has initiated the process to form a new government under Article 76 (2) of the constitution and in cases where no party has a clear majority in the House of Representatives, the President shall appoint as prime minister a member of the House of Representatives who can command majority with the support of two or more parties, according to the Nepalese constitution.

If the opposition parties fail to form a new government, the President, as per the constitution, has to invoke Article 76 (3), which says " in cases where the prime minister cannot be appointed under Clause (2)... or the prime minister so appointed fails to secure a vote of confidence within 30 days from the date of appointment, the President shall appoint as prime minister the parliamentary party leader of the party which has the highest number of members in the House of Representatives." IANS

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