Can Chinese investment help Nepal’s new communist alliance make the break from India?
After years of political and social turbulence, Nepalese people crave stability, and China-led projects can help create jobs, improve infrastructure, analysts say
Nepal’s new government will strive to maintain the country’s “independence” by breaking loose from India’s excessive interference and trying to attract more Chinese investment, according to a senior politician in the recently elected leftist alliance.
A coalition of two communist parties secured about two-thirds of the seats in both the Parliament and the Provincial Assembly, Nepal’s two legislative bodies.
The large margin by which the communist alliance, which is seen as closer to China, won the landmark polls was widely viewed as a repudiation of long-standing Indian influence in the country and an endorsement of stronger ties with Beijing.
The new government will be formed by the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) and the CPN (Maoist Centre).
Ishwor Pokhrel, general secretary of the CPN-UML said in an interview with the South China Morning Post that the result showed that voters wanted an end to the nation’s instability.
“People voted in this election towards political stability,” he said. “This result [is one] which Nepalese people have very eagerly awaited for a long time.”