Existential crisis in Nepal deepens as SC rejects legality of ruling party's name

Kathmandu [Nepal], March 7 (ANI): In a snub to caretaker Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the Supreme Court of Nepal on Sunday gave its final verdict in favour of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Chairperson Rishi Kattel over the dispute on the legality of the ruling party's name.
A joint bench of Justices Bam Kumar Shrestha and Kumar Regmi heard the case filed by NCP Chairperson Rishi Kattel on December 7, 2018, and rejected the legality of the ruling party's name in favour of Kattal.
Kattel, who is the Chairman of Nepal Communist Party, had filed the case after Nepal PM Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal merged their party Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) and CPN (Maoist Centre) on May 17, 2018, to form the NCP, despite the name already being in existence.
Despite this, the country's Election Commission (EC), on October 26, 2018, had formally registered the ruling Nepal Communist Party by Oli and Dahal, rejecting Kattel's plea that the name clashed with the name of his own party.
The bench said that a new party cannot be registered with the EC when it already has a party registered with a similar name.
Elected in 2017 after a landslide victory, Oli became the first Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Nepal after the communist alliance of the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) secured nearly two-third majorities in the lower house.
The alliance is now headed for a split within two years of unity, after Oli decided to dissolve the lower house on December 20. (ANI)