Khadga Prasad Oli [Center], Prime Minister of Nepal [File photo]

Amidst India's efforts to cajole the victorious Left alliance, its leader Khadga Prasad Oli became the first Prime Minister of federal Nepal. Oli, also chair of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), received support from the other half of the alliance, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center), for his second term as the executive head of the Himalayan nation.

This is the first time Nepali communists formed a majority government to rid the nation of the prolonged transition that vitiated the country's ability to achieve stability and economic development. Moreover, the coalition government is in a better position to execute independent foreign policies and extract the country from the geopolitical tussles among the big powers.

The people gave the thumbs-up to the communists as the parties competed at the polls and promised eventual unity following the election. The formation of the Left alliance government marks a watershed moment in the country's politics. It is tasked to implement a socialist-oriented economy as spelt out in the new constitution promulgated in 2015.

Oli led the coalition to a resounding victory on the planks of stability, prosperity and good governance. Moreover, it is Oli's nationalistic stand taken during his 9-month premiership that enabled him to clinch a resounding victory in the polls held as per the roadmap of new constitution.

Oli has become the first prime minister of Nepal after it was converted into a federal republic. It is natural for the citizens to pin their hopes on Oli, who has emerged as the most influential and popular leader in the country's contemporary politics thanks to his pivotal role in promulgating the constitution and defying the Indian diktats against it.

Oli, who endured a 14-year-long jail sentence while opposing the autocratic Panchayat regime, has the challenge of pursuing pragmatic and balanced foreign policy. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already shown his readiness to work with Oli, with Modi phoning Oli three times since the victory of the alliance in a positive gesture to mend ties with Nepal. India had imposed a cruel blockade on Nepal in 2015 after the latter refused to toe India's hegemonic line of keeping Nepal under its security umbrella. Oli served as the rallying point for anti-embargo protests.

In a major breakthrough, the country's two major communist parties were unified on Feb. 19, issuing a seven-point accord which is expected to deliver a stable government to the country for the next five years. They decided to name their unified party the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN), adopting a multiparty system with Marxism-Leninism as its guiding principle. A string of leaders have put their signatures on the merger blueprint and agreed to debate the topics of a multiparty people's democracy, Maoism and 21st-century democracy at the unity convention before coming up with a coherent ideology.

Unified Marxist Leninist chair Oli and Maoist Center chair Prachanda will jointly head the coalition party and lead the government on a rotating basis.

With the unification, the CPN has become the world's fourth-largest communist party, after the parties operating in China, Vietnam and Laos. This enabled the CPN to secure 174 seats out of the total 275 in the House of Representatives. It holds a solid majority in six out of seven provinces. The two parties had jointly fought the elections held in November and December last year. 

Considered a historic gain for the 68-year Nepali communist movement, the unification has added impetus for the government to usher the country out of its previous era of turmoil.

Ritu Raj Subedi is an associate editor of The Rising Nepal.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

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