Nepal coalition in crisis, PM in talks with opposition for new alliance

One of his aides reported that Nepal’s prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal was in discussions with two opposition parties to form a new coalition on Monday ( Feb 4). He cited issues with his current ally, the centrist Nepali Congress party.

Dahal, a previous Communist guerrilla leader in the hilly country sandwiched between China and India, formed a coalition government last year that was dominated by the Nepali Congress party and other smaller parties.

However, his Communist Centre group, which is the third-largest team in the 275-member parliament, had criticized the Nepali Congress group for putting “hurdles” in removing some officials with whom he was unsatisfied.

The former guerrilla chief, according to Govinda Acharya, Dahal’s press secretary, is likely to name a new cabinet that includes members of the Communist Party of Nepal ( UML) and the Rastriya Swotantra Party ( RSP).

There were primarily coverage disparities that prevented the prime minister from working with the Nepali Congress. Therefore, he is bringing in the RSP and the UML as new partnership companions,” Acharya told Reuters without going into further detail.

Harsh Gyawali, the head of the UML, predicted that his party may help the prime minister if Dahal “broke aside” from the Nepali Congress.

RSP was unable to respond to comments right away.

According to group leaders, Dahal, 69, wanted to oust some “non-performing” ministers, including Nepali Congressman Prakash Sharan Mahat, who claimed he had never done much to encourage the US$ 40 billion economy’s development.

According to Mahat, the state of the economy in the country is better today than it was last year.

The National Council, a political system crucial to passing new laws, is also being contested by Dahal’s Maoist Centre group and the Nepali Congress for head of the lower house of parliament.

According to Bishwa Prakash Sharma, a general secretary of the Nepali Congress party, the alliance with the Separatists had “almost collapsed,” adding that his group was meeting to discuss the new position.

Before he joined the mainstream under the terms of the 2006 peace offer overseen by the UN, Dahal led a decade-long rebellion that started in 1996 and resulted in 17, 000 fatalities.

Since removing its 239-year-old dynasty in 2008 and establishing itself as a nation, Nepal has had 13 institutions.