Editor's Pick: Nepal faces a constitutional crisis

(The Editor's Pick is a new newsletter from The Hindu that provides a snapshot of the most important stories from today's edition of our newspaper, along with a note from our top editors on why we chose to give prominence to these stories.)

Nepal's Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli has announced the dissolution of the current Parliament with general elections to be held next year. The President has signed off on the move, but several legal challenges are being mounted against it from within Mr. Oli's party itself. Security forces have been deployed in several parts of Nepal to quell protests against the move.

The sudden move from Mr. Oli seems to have been triggered by a stand-off within the ruling Nepal Communist Party. Mr. Oli had promulgated an Ordinance giving himself more control over the Constitutional Council that makes key appointments. This sidelined the Speaker, who is from the Maoist faction in the NCP led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'. The Maoist faction has mounted the legal challenges against the Parliament dissolution, and is also moving for disciplinary action withing the party against the PM.

Mr. Oli became PM in February 2018 after elections in 2017. In May that year, his Communist Party of Nepal (UML) and Mr. Prachanda's Communist Part of Nepal (Maoist-centre) came together to form the NCP, with both leaders as chairmen. However, the union has run into rough weather with a power struggle between Mr. Prachanda and Mr. Oli. A key issue is the latter being PM and party co-chair at the same time. Mr. Prachanda's faction is stronger within the party, while the PM counted more legislators on his side. However, several of Mr. Oli's allies within CPN(UML), including the faction of former PM Madhav Kumar Nepal, have moved their allegiance to Mr. Prachanda. His dwindling support could be the reason behind Mr. Oli's call for elections.Nepal sliding into another political crisis has implications for India. Ties with the Himalayan neighbour have been fraught, with the recent political map issue and the increasing influence of China. This is what makes the story important.

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