The International League of Peoples’ Struggle – Asia Pacific condemns the dissolution of the House of Representatives by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari at the behest of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. Bhandari has also announced that the general elections will be on April 30 and May 10, more than a year ahead of schedule.
The move is being challenged by Nepalis as unconstitutional and undemocratic, as the prime minister has no authority to dissolve the parliament under the constitution. Oli is prioritizing the dissolution of parliament over the Coronavirus crisis as the country’s Covid-19 cases have reached more than 264,000, and 81% of Nepali’s workers in the informal sector face job insecurity.
The undemocratic move of Oli serves imperialist interests well as he has also been advancing US interests in Nepal, such as signing the Nepal Compact with US-backed Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an economic pillar of the US Indo-Pacific strategy. The Nepal compact is a $500 million investment on infrastructure with onerous clauses, such as the provisions of the compact superseding Nepal’s existing laws in case of conflict, and thus tramples on the sovereignty of Nepal. The Indo-Pacific Strategy is part of the United States’ attempt to curb Chinese influence over the Asia-Pacific in order to maintain US hegemony.
The ILPS decries this attack on democracy and supports the Nepali people’s call for democratic representation.
The ILPS is in solidarity with the people of Nepal against the despotism of Oli and US intervention.###