Nepal Supreme Court quashes 2018 formation of ruling Nepal Communist Party

On Sunday, the Supreme Court of Nepal gave yet another verdict with serious political implications that effectively dismisses the existence of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), which was formed through the merger of K P Sharma Oli-led Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) & Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’-led Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) in 2018.

A 2-member bench of the Apex Court ruled that the allocation of the NCP name to the new party that was formed after the merger was illegal because the name was already allotted to a party led by Rishi Kattel. Therefore, the Court ruled that the current ruling party named NCP stood “dismissed”.

The Top Court said in its verdict that the 2 groups that merged in 2018 — the CPN-UML & the CPN (Maoist Centre) — would be revived as separate entities as in their pre-unification days, & that “if the 2 sides still want to unite, they should begin the process afresh & immediately apprise the Election Commission about it”.

The long-awaited verdict came on Sunday, just hours before the first session of the House of Representatives after the Supreme Court annulled its dismissal by Prime Minister Oli on Dec 20 & ordered its reinstatement.

In the election that took place in Dec 2018, the UML & Maoists had fought on a joint manifesto & their own respective election symbols with tickets allocated on 60:40 ratio. The election saw UML winning 64 per cent of the seats it contested whereas the Maoists won only 36%. The two parties later united a little after a year of the election, giving birth to the NCP.

Oli said he welcomed the decision of the Court, but it has effectively transformed a House of single party majority into a hung one, with Oli & Prachanda now separately heading the erstwhile NCP’s constituents, & their parliamentary wings.

Infighting between the 2 factions had reached its peak on Dec 20, & Oli, citing non-cooperation from the the dissidents, dismissed parliament to be followed by new election in early May. The Supreme Court, however, reinstated the House — effectively stalling the scheduled polls. 

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