Nepal: K.P. Sharma Oli is New Prime Minister
Until 2027, the Communist Party leader will take turns with Sher Bahadur Deuba, president of the Nepali Congress Party, with whom he has an agreement to win a majority in parliament
Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, chairman of the country’s largest communist party, has become Nepal’s new prime minister.
Sharma Oli has formed a new alliance in Nepal’s troubled parliament and will be sworn in on July 15. The 72-year-old man will replace Pushpa Kamal Dahal, whose government fell just 18 months after the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist Party) agreed to a new coalition with the center-left Nepali Congress Party. This is Sharma Oli’s fourth term as Prime Minister in the last 10 years: he was elected to the post in 2015, then in 2018, and finally in 2021 (for just 3 months).
Sharma Oli’s government is expected to be elected by parliament, where both parties have a majority. The agreement is based on a change of position between Prime Minister Oli and 78-year-old Sher Bahadur Deuba, president of the Nepali Congress Party, is made until 2027, when elections for a new parliament will be held.
The two leaders, as reported by the New York Times, said this coalition would be able to guarantee the stability, direly needed by Nepal, a country of 30 million people, given that the political scene is undermined by constant power shifts and instability.
The new rulers will focus on legislative changes, such as reducing the number of seats in parliament and merging some local governments established under Nepal’s first constitution nine years ago to ensure better governance.