Return of the old guard

Nepali politicians appear to be slowly but surely reverting to business as usual.

The greatest tragedy in Nepal’s recent political history was that the rollout of federalism was helmed by the one person who arguably stood against everything this exercise in power devolution exemplified but who also had the power to undermine it—KP Sharma Oli. Anyone still harbouring any illusions about the UML supremo on that score would have had them dispelled by the sordid drama recently of a new chief minister in Madhesh being surreptitiously installed at dawn. The swearing in of the province’s executive head in a hotel without the knowledge of anyone outside a small coterie has rocked Madhesh, while a Supreme Court interim order has already rendered the incumbent a lame duck.