Nepal's Identity Politics Conquer Its Prime Minister

Volatility has long been a hallmark of Nepalese politics, and a new chapter of uncertainty has opened in the impoverished Himalayan nation. On July 24, Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli resigned ahead of a no-confidence vote in the country's legislature that he was widely expected to lose. Lawmakers initiated the vote in response to allegations that Oli failed to honor the promises of the nine-point agreement signed by the country's ruling parties in May. Chief among the grievances was Oli's refusal to redraw the boundaries of the Terai lowlands, the home of Nepal's historically marginalized Madhesi ethnic group.

The relationship between Oli and the Madhesi was never cordial. Madhesi activists created headaches for the prime minister by blockading Nepal's border with India for months, while Oli — a member of the "hill" culture that has traditionally dominated Nepalese politics — has withheld his support for shifting the lowlands' borders to increase the Madhesi representation in parliament. But Oli's inability to appease the Madhesi is more than a matter of personal politics; it is also a problem rooted in geography, and one that his replacements may not prove much better at overcoming. If, like Oli, they do not succeed, Nepal will continue to lurch from crisis to crisis, and the stability needed for the country to prosper will remain elusive.