The Samajbadi Party Nepal and the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, the third and fourth largest parties in the federal parliament, merged last Wednesday in a dramatic way.
The merger was made to deal a blow to PM KP Sharma Oli’s ill-intended move of splitting the Samajbadi Party, as the circumstances suggested.
The introduction of two controversial ordinances by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had set into motion a chain of events that eventually culminated in the alleged “kidnapping” of a political leader and the long-awaited merger of two Madhesi parties.
Was the unification of the two rival parties of Madhes home-grown?
Many political pundits argued that the unexpected unification was made in the Indian aegis.
Hours before the merger, Samajbadi Party vice-chair Renu Yadav had attempted to split the party with the support of six others of the party’s lawmakers, a move that was only possible because of one of Oli’s Monday ordinances that allowed a party split to occur with just 40 percent support from either the party’s lawmakers or its central committee. Earlier, the requirement was 40 percent support from both lawmakers and the central committee.
But the parties very cleverly foiled the attempt. However, it is still not known who was behind the impossible-like unity in the two parties. And it is also not sure whether the unification was permanent or a temporary to avoid the split in Samajwadi Party.
Reproduced from People’s Review
