Nepal government signs peace agreement with small communist rebel group

Nepal’s government on Thursday, March 4, signed a peace agreement with a small communist rebel group widely. Also, the government agreed to lift a ban on the group and release all their party members and supporters in jail and drop all legal cases against them. As per a statement by the government right after the peace talks, the group also agreed to give up violence and resolve any issues through peaceful dialogue.

According to the reports by AP, the details of the agreement would be made public at a joint ceremony which is to take place on Friday, March 5. The joint ceremony will include Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli and the leader of the rebel group Netra Bikram Chand. The group which is known as the Nepal Communist Party had a split from the Maoist Communist party, which is known for fighting the government troops between 1996 and 2006. 

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Political turmoil in Nepal 

This peace agreement when Nepal is going through a political turmoil. Recently, PM Oli made his intentions clear that he will not resign following the country's Supreme Court's verdict against him. Following this, he challenged the ruling Nepal Communist Party's splinter faction led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' to remove him from the top post if he can. Addressing an event in his home district, Jhapa, Prime Minister Oli challenged the Prachanda-led faction to table a vote of the no-confidence motion and endorse that, My Republica newspaper reported.

"KP Oli is still the parliamentary party leader of the NCP. He is the party chairman as well as the Prime Minister," 69-year-old Oli said. "If you have restored parliament, remove KP Oli from the Prime Ministerial post”. "Remove me if you can. If I am ousted, I’ll emerge victorious with a two-thirds majority in the next election," he challenged Dahal and Nepal who have been expediting work to garner support from Nepali Congress and Janata Samajbadi parties in an apparent bid to oust Oli from power, according to the newspaper. 

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Nepal plunged into a political crisis on December 20 after President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the House and announced fresh elections on April 30 and May 10 at the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli, amidst a tussle for power within the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP). In a landmark ruling, a five-member constitutional bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher last week annulled the Oli government's "unconstitutional" decision to dissolve the 275-member lower house of Parliament. The court ordered the government to summon the House session within the next 13 days. The ruling party suffered a vertical split following Oli's decision to dissolve the lower house.

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