Nepal's sharp-tongued Oli, 4-time PM

FE Team | Published: July 14, 2024 22:29:03

Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli

KATHMANDU, July 14 (AFP): Tough-talking Nepali leader Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli has spent a lifetime in communist politics, becoming prime minister for a fourth time Sunday in the Himalayan republic's revolving-door leadership.
The often outspoken 72-year-old, head of the Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), formed a government with the backing of the centre-left Nepali Congress.
In the Himalayan republic of some 30 million people, overshadowed by giant neighbours India and China, Oli previously trod a fine balance between the rivals, cordial to both but reaching out to Beijing to decrease Nepal's dependence on New Delhi.
First elected as prime minister in 2015, he was re-elected in 2018 and reappointed briefly in 2021 in Nepal's often turbulent parliament.
Oli, often known by his first initials "KP", has carefully crafted a cult-like image as his party's supreme leader, political journalist Binu Subedi told AFP.
Life-size cutouts of Oli waving and banners of "KP Ba (father), we love you" are not unusual at his rallies.
"He has transformed the party's image as his own," Subedi said. His recent years in power saw an authoritarian streak emerge.
Subedi said Oli is viewed as a decisive leader who speaks his mind -- considering his word as "final" and rarely accepting criticism or suggestions, even from his own party.