WHEN Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli stepped down as Nepal’s prime minister on July 24th ahead of a no-confidence motion he was certain to lose, he had lasted only nine months. The next government, under his nemesis, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a former Maoist guerrilla widely known as Prachanda (“the fierce one”) will be the ninth in eight years. But under the terms of a power-sharing deal Mr Oli struck with the Nepali Congress, the country’s biggest party—to which neither man belongs—Mr Dahal is due to step down in nine months’ time.
And that is the trouble with Nepal’s politicians. They are more interested in squabbles over power than in solving problems. Poverty has sent millions of Nepalis abroad for work. The state has failed utterly to rebuild after an earthquake last year devastated mountain villages, killing 8,000 and leaving millions homeless. A new constitution has yet to be fairly implemented more than ten months after it was passed.
Some hope Mr Dahal (pictured, left, with Mr Oli) will bring stability after his predecessor’s brief but erratic rule. After all, he has experience in governing: when the Maoists laid down arms in 2006 and struck a deal...Continue reading
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