Nepal PM forges alliance with ex-premier Oli’s party

Kathmandu, March 4

Nepalese PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ on Monday decided to form a new alliance with former premier KP Sharma Oli’s party after terminating its nearly 15-month partnership with the Nepali Congress due to differences between the top leadership.

The alliance between the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) led by Prachanda and the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led Nepali Congress has been terminated as the growing differences between the two top leaders reached a climax, a CPN-Maoist Centre party leader said. “As (the) Nepali Congress did not cooperate with the Prime Minister, we are forced to look for (a) new alliance,” Ganesh Shah, secretary of the CPN-Maoist, said.

Prachanda became the PM for the third term with the support of the Nepali Congress on December 25, 2022.

After breaking the alliance with the Nepali Congress — the largest party in the House of Representatives — Prachanda joined hands with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), led by Oli, who was regarded as Prachanda’s top critic.