Communist Parties’ Victory in Nepal May Signal Closer China Ties
Politicians say that decisions like that could be reversed under the leadership of politicians like Mr. Oli
of the Communist Party of Nepal, who took a harder line against India when he served as prime minister.
Voters said they were elated that the elections took place at all, expressing cautious optimism
that new political leadership could offer stability to a country that has had 10 prime ministers in less than a decade.
A powerful political coalition of two communist parties led by former prime ministers, Pushpa Kamal Dahal
and K. P. Sharma Oli, won a majority of the contested seats in two legislative bodies, the Parliament and the Provincial Assembly.
Many said India had spearheaded the blockade because of its internal objections to the Constitution
and as punishment for the Kathmandu political establishment’s increasingly cozy relationship with China, which has pumped millions of dollars into investment projects in Nepal.
Rajendra Mahato, a leader of the smaller Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, said
that it was still unclear whether the newest iteration of Nepal’s government has the latitude or political will to deliver on campaign promises.
The Nepal Communist Party, the Maoist party responsible for the attacks, had called for the elections to be dismissed
and for Nepal’s parliamentary system to be replaced with a socialist one.
