A day after Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli said he “will fight back any interference from India”, a high level source in the government said it was Chinese officials and not Indians who were meeting members of all political parties in Nepal to save the Oli government which faced a no-trust motion in Parliament.
“India did nothing to destabilise the Oli government; he could not deliver and the coalition government fell down. The fact that he still wants to stick to power despite not having the numbers in Parliament is totally undemocratic. There is interference by China and they are trying to win over members in each political party,” said the high level source in Delhi.
The nine-month-old Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxists-Leninists) government led by Mr. Oli was reduced to a minority after the Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’-led UCPN-Maoist withdrew support four days ago.
Mr. Dahal had also withdrawn support to the government in May, but the move was reversed quickly through negotiations.
Mr. Dahal had withdrawn support to the government in May, but the move was reversed quickly through negotiations. Mr. Oli’s allegations, during a speech at a national security symposium in Kathmandu on Thursday indicated that he believed both bids were externally driven.
Conspiracy claim
“Plots have been hatched to remove my government by using the Congress and the Maoist party because I stood for the nation and national self-respect during the blockade,” Mr. Oli said, referring to the four-month blockade on the border.
However the high level source countered this, saying, “The Oli government has been harping on patriotism and nationalism but nationalism does not only mean that of the hill people. If not two-thirds, but three-fourth demands of the Madhesis could have been met, when Oli wanted to work towards it, the Chinese interfered.”
The source said Chinese Premier Xi Jinping was expected to visit Nepal soon, and Chinese officials were in Kathmandu to sort out issues in the government before that.
