KP Sharma is the Prime Minister of Nepal for the fourth time

KP Sharma Oli File photo: Reuters

KP Sharma Oli became the Prime Minister of Nepal for the fourth time. President Ram Chandra Paudel appointed him as the Prime Minister on Sunday. He is scheduled to take oath tomorrow, Monday. The press secretary of the country's president, Kiran Pokhrel, confirmed this information.

72-year-old KP Sharma Oli is the head of the Communist Party of Nepal. This time his party Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) formed a coalition government with the center-left Nepali Congress Party.

Oli was first elected Prime Minister in 2015. Then in 2018, he was again elected as the Prime Minister. He was last appointed Prime Minister for a short time in 2021 when there was unrest in the country's parliament.

The politics of Nepal, a country of 30 million people, is always closely monitored by its two big neighbours, India and China. These two countries have major investments in Nepal bordering the Himalayas. Delhi and Beijing want to influence Nepal and Nepalese politics. Earlier, Oli maintained a well-balanced relationship with the two countries during his tenure. Although he had cordial relations with both, he increased contact with Beijing to reduce dependence on New Delhi.

In the face of political uncertainty, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), one of its largest allies, withdrew support from Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's government last week. The team is led by KP Sharma Oli.

The situation then became such that 69-year-old Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had two options—either he had to step down as head of government, or he had to prove his majority in Parliament. Pushpa Kamal Dahal chose the second option and failed.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal lost the confidence vote in the country's parliament last Friday. As a result, his government collapsed after only 18 months of assuming power.
After that, Oli allied with Sher Bahadur Deuba's party Nepali Congress.