NEW DELHI: President Xi Jinping is sending a high-level team to Kathmandu in an effort to avoid a split in the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and end the political crisis in the Himalayan nation.
Nepal plunged into political uncertainty after President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the House of Representatives and announced the dates for the midterm elections on the recommendation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Sunday, sparking protests from a section of the ruling party.
The ruling NCP has been virtually split between factions led by Prime Minister Oli and Chief Executive Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, two years after it was formed with the merger between the Oli-led CPN-UML and the CPN-Maoist Center led by Prachanda in May 2018.
Last effort
China’s ambassador in Kathmandu, Hou Yanqi, had recently said that China may be making one last attempt to hold together the multitude of warring communist leaders.
According to media reports, the four-member Chinese team will be led by Communist Party Vice Minister Guo Yezhou and is scheduled to land in Kathmandu on Sunday morning.
Reports say China’s move is believed to be part of Xi’s efforts to assess the situation on the ground.
The NCP was formed in 2018 with the merger of the CPN (Maoist Center) of Dahal and the CPN-Marxist-Leninist Unified of Oli (CPN-UML).
It is no secret that China has worked to keep the alliance of “ideologically like-minded” forces intact. Beijing However, he faces a difficult decision, as Oli’s favored position becomes increasingly unstable.
Claiming a two-thirds majority in the NCP, Dahal has relieved Oli of his position as co-chair of the party and demanded that the electoral commission recognize his faction as the legitimate NCP.
While China had so far worked to gain support for Oli, its main goal now appears to be to ensure that the communist alliance remains intact heading into next year’s elections.
If the party is divided, China will still want the communist parties to run for office together, even if that means giving up Oli. Hou’s meeting with Dahal, who ultimately disconnected Oli, is significant in that context.
Safeguard investments
China’s political profile in Nepal has been rising in recent years with billions of dollars in investments under Beijing’s multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), including the construction of the Transhimalayan Multidimensional Connectivity Network.
In addition to the focus on trade and connectivity, China has also worked to build defense ties with Nepal, as demonstrated again by Defense Minister Wei Fenghe’s visit to Kathmandu last month.
Therefore, it is crucial for the Chinese leadership to ensure a stable government in Nepal.
Furthermore, this is not the first time that China has intervened in Nepal’s internal affairs at a time of crisis.
In May, Hou held separate meetings with President Bhandari, the prime minister and other senior PNC leaders, including Prachanda, as Oli faced mounting pressure to resign.
In July, he met again with several top leaders, including the President, Prime Minister, Prachanda, Madhav Kumar Nepal, and Jhala Nath Khanal and Bamdev Gautam to save Oli, known for his pro-Beijing leanings.
Several political party leaders had described the series of meetings of the Chinese envoy with the leaders of the ruling party as interference in the internal political affairs of Nepal.
Dozens of student activists carrying banners with anti-China slogans had organized a rally in front of the Chinese embassy here to protest Hou’s interference in Nepal’s internal affairs.
India keeps the distance
And as China enters the political crisis in Nepal, India seeks to maintain a safe distance.
Earlier this week, India had described the events in Nepal as its “internal affairs” according to its democratic process.
Official sources also said that the crisis that has already seen the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (PNC) split in two is unlikely to stand in the way of India’s development work in Nepal.
(With PTI inputs)
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