It’s been apparent for some time that Nepal’s brotherhood of Communists have not been feeling very brotherly towards each other. Now it seems they are on the verge of a split. Reports from Kathmandu say the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist) is withdrawing support to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center)-led government in the mid-western province of Karnali. The latter is headed by former PM Prachanda.
But there’s more to this poisonous brew. Oli has trained his guns on Madhav Nepal who heads a faction in the UML. He is boycotting Oli’s call for a meeting of the parliamentary wing of the party on Thursday. His grouse: cadres loyal to him have been stripped of their party responsibilities that will now be handled by cadres formerly loyal to Prachanda.
It would seem Oli still calls the tune despite suffering a setback when the Supreme Court overturned his decision to suspend parliament and hold fresh elections. He had a willing accomplice in President Bhandari, a point which was not lost on the apex court. For now, Nepal’s long running political tragi-comedy continues with no indication when there will be relief for its citizens.
