Nepal’s Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli earlier received the consent of his country’s president, Bidya Devi Bhandari, to dissolve the parliament and hold elections in two phases on April 30 and May 10 next year. According to media analysis, the surprise move not only shocked the opposition within the CPN party to which he belongs, but also incidentally put China, which has been behind Nepal’s political manipulation, in its place. The Indian media has accused Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi of continuing to quietly interfere in Nepal’s internal affairs.
According to a United Press report today, the raid! Nepal’s prime minister dissolved the parliament to deal with the party’s opposition and put China on the spot. Nepal’s Prime Minister Oli suddenly dissolved the parliament today, catching the party opposition off guard and possibly defeating China’s calculations, the news said.
The report quoted The Hindustan Times as saying that Oli’s move to dissolve the parliament has left the party opposition in a state of panic. Sources said the move would free up Prime Minister Oli to lead the government and split the CPN and Maoist faction led by Prachada.
Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi, fearing that a split in the CPN would be detrimental to China, met intensively with Nepal’s communist leaders in late April and early May this year, hoping they would remain united, the sources said. Nepalese observers say China initially supported Oli, but changed tactics earlier this year with the intention of sacrificing him. According to the newspaper, Prime Minister Oli told Hou Yanqi that he did not need foreign intervention and that he was capable of handling intra-party disputes on his own. Yet Hou Yanqi continues to quietly interfere in Nepal’s internal affairs. According to a source tracking political developments in Nepal, Hou Yanqi not only helped former Prime Minister Prachada weaken Oli, but also participated in a plot to remove him and replace him with Deputy Prime Minister Bamdev Gautam. The Indian newspaper pointed out that Prime Minister Oli’s dissolution of the National Assembly would frustrate China’s calculations.
Oli aide Rajan Bhattarai pointed out that the prime minister’s move was due to strong resistance from the party’s opposition, which wanted him to surrender the leadership of the party, according to a report quoted by United Press. So he decided to confront them head-on and resort to the latest public opinion.
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