KATHMANDU: India is closely watching the situation after terrorism and political unrest have rocked three countries in the neighbourhood with Nepal being the latest where a leadership tussle for the top post is being played out after Nepal PM KP Oli lost the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives on Monday.
After a horrendous spell of killings over the fortnight that has left 150 dead in Afghanistan and a murderous attack on Maldives Speaker Mohamed Nasheed, Nepal was headed for political uncertainty after its Prime Minister KP Oli was beaten in the vote of confidence by a formidable combination of Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and Janata Samajbadi Party.
The leaders of the three parties have asked President Bidya Devi Bhandari to start the process of appointing a new PM even as Oli, till reports last came in, was ready to battle it out. Prime Minister Oli secured 93 votes in the lower house of parliament during a special session convened on the directives of the President. Oli required at least 136 votes in the 275-member House to win the confidence motion as four members are currently under suspension.
A total of 124 members voted against the confidence motion while 15 members stayed neutral, Speaker Agni Sapkota announced. The session was attended by 232 lawmakers.
Some 28 Lawmakers belonging to Oli’s rival faction led by Madhav Nepal-Jhala Nath Khanal abstained during the voting. The main opposition Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), which control 61 and 49 votes, respectively, voted against Oli’s trust motion.
The political uncertainty in Nepal comes at a time when it is battling a rise in Covid cases. This is an issue that Oli has seized upon by writing an op-ed appealing for help from the UK as the head of G-7.
Sources here noted that one solace is that the Chinese envoy to Nepal Hou Yanqi was unsuccessful in gathering support for Oli. In case the trio of Prachanda, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Upendra Yadav manage to make common cause, a new PM, because of support from the Nepali Congress will look more for support from the western world and India.
Last week, Maldives, which does not have a reputation for extremism, saw a car bomb attack targeting Nasheed, a pro-India figure and the man who broke a 36-year authoritarian stranglehold over power. Politics has gone murky in the Maldives as the island has witnessed contestation between India and the US on one side and China and Pakistan on the other.
While the US, China, Pakistan and Russia call the shots in deciding Afghanistan’s future, the bloodbath in the country continued.