The US has been very close to Oli lately
# By Prem Sagar Poudel
As the UML’s legislative convention approaches, the issue of the age limit is in the spotlight. Those in favor of Chairman KP Oli are trying to remove the age limit issue from the legislative convention. By doing so, the path to becoming a chairman candidate will be opened for Oli, who is now 74 years old. The previous UML legislative convention had set an age limit of 70 years for office bearers, which has now been suspended.
If the age limit issue is maintained, Oli will automatically retire as UML chairman. After Oli’s spontaneous retirement, the party leadership will easily pass into the hands of Bidya Bhandari. Now, people close to Oli have begun preparations to stop Bidhya and remove the age limit from the legislation. Their background appears to have worked for the Americans in the past. Overall, the current Oli-Bhandari feud within the UML appears to be a growing cause of American interference in Nepal’s parties.
America wants to continue Oli as UML chairman. One reason behind this is that no other leader can finish off UML as easily as Oli. In recent years, UML’s popularity has been steadily declining due to Oli. The US, which has been advocating in favor of a constitutional monarchy, had put forward an agenda that included a referendum on the subject of the monarchy. The US had convinced the Nepali Army to put Bhandari forward as the leader of the American agenda.
After returning from her visit to China, Bhandari did not back down from the agreements reached on the subject of monarchy. As a result, the movement for the establishment of a monarchy in Nepal could not move forward. The Nepali Army also did not dare to take power by force due to the lack of proper personnel. The center of all these reasons is that the US has been accepting the betrayal of Bhandari. Therefore, they have come to a consensus that it is not worth looking for an alternative to Oli in the UML.
Bhandari, on the other hand, is planning to come under the leadership of the UML anyway. She has already urged Oli to support her idea of entering active politics. A section of the UML seems to be openly siding with Bhandari. Oli is starting to find himself in trouble within the party as Bhandari moves forward to take over the leadership from the upcoming general convention. As Bhandari moves forward with plans to take over the leadership from the upcoming general convention, Oli is starting to face difficulties within the party. Some leaders, including Shankar Pokharel and Pradeep Gyawali, have come out in favor of Oli. Leaders, including Bishnu Paudel, Karna Thapa, Gokul Baskota, are in favor of Bhandari.
With Bhandari as the UML chairperson, the Socialists and Maoists are also confident that a path forward will be opened by uniting with the UML. They have concluded that the issue of unity is over because of Oli. Therefore, once again, their analysis is that Bhandari’s support is needed in building a unified communist party in Nepal. The United States, which opposes the Unified Communist Party, has been very close to Oli in recent times.
