Nepal’s Prime Minister, K P Sharma Oli, has successfully foiled China’s effort to uproot him from the position of power by announcing the dissolution of the National Assembly. In early 2018, Oli led Nepal Communist Party came to power riding on a nationalist campaign and he is the Prime Minister of the country for the last three years.
However, there were significant disagreements between Oli-led Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) and his rival Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda’s Communist Party of Nepal- Maoist Centre. The Chinese Communist Party worked round the clock and kept them together, thanks to diplomatic skills of Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Hou Yanqi. And, this helped the Nepal Communist Party to run the government for almost three years.
In the last few years, China has not only encroached on Nepalese land but also tried to entice Dahal’s Maoist faction, given the fact its ideology more closely aligns with that of Beijing. But, both the factors did not go well with the Oli faction, and with the encouragement from India, he has started speaking against the Chinese involvement in Nepal’s internal affairs and encroachment over its territory.
The Maoist faction of the Communist Party started blackmailing Oli with the fact that he would not be able to prove the majority in the house if the faction does not support them, but taking a pre-emptive strike, Oli declared dissolution of the parliament.
The election has been announced in two phases in April and May, and now Oli could a majority of his own, claiming that he refused to compromise on National Interest, and did not bow to the bully, China. The Maoist faction, which was working closely with the Chinese ambassador, is caught off guard with Oli’s move.
“There were two other formulas that the Chinese envoy continued to work on, a person who tracks developments in Nepal politics said. Apart from negotiating a format where the NCP’s former prime minister Dahal and Madhav Nepal hold the strings of power minus PM Oli, Ambassador Hou also explored the possibility of the NCP shunting out PM Oli and promoting Deputy Prime Minister Bamdev Gautam instead,” reported Shishir Gupta of Hindustan Times, who is considered an authoritative voice on Nepal.
In the last few months, a series of high-level diplomatic visits took place in Nepal from India, including that of Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shirngla and Army Chief M M Naravane. With the efforts from India’s foreign ministry, Nepal has once against toed to Indian line on many issues and has shunned China.
However, the giant leap in kicking China out of Nepal’s affairs and weeding of Chinese stooge, Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda’s Communist Party of Nepal- Maoist Centre, is the dissolution of House of Representatives of Nepal’s parliament. This means that the China supported Maoist faction will no longer hold any influence in the Nepal government, and after that, the fate will be decided by the election, which very likely the Nationalist faction will win. Therefore, the dissolution of the House of Representatives is the last nail in the coffin of the Chinese influence in Nepal.