KP Sharma Oli facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Right Honourable KP Sharma Oli
के.पी. शर्मा ओली
Oli in 2018
38th Prime Minister of Nepal
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 July 2024
President	Ram Chandra Poudel
Deputy	Bishnu Prasad Paudel Prakash Man Singh
Preceded by	Pushpa Kamal Dahal
In office 15 February 2018 – 13 July 2021
President	Bidya Devi Bhandari
Preceded by	Sher Bahadur Deuba
Succeeded by	Sher Bahadur Deuba
In office 12 October 2015 – 24 August 2016
President	Ram Baran Yadav Bidya Devi Bhandari
Preceded by	Sushil Koirala
Succeeded by	Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Leader of the Opposition
In office 27 February 2023 – 4 March 2024
Prime Minister	Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Preceded by	Sher Bahadur Deuba
Succeeded by	Sher Bahadur Deuba
In office 13 July 2021 – 26 December 2022
Prime Minister	Sher Bahadur Deuba
Preceded by	Sher Bahadur Deuba
Succeeded by	Sher Bahadur Deuba
In office 4 August 2016 – 15 February 2018
Prime Minister	Pushpa Kamal Dahal Sher Bahadur Deuba
Preceded by	Sushil Koirala
Succeeded by	Sher Bahadur Deuba
Ministerial offices Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal In office 2006–2007 Serving with Amik Sherchan Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala Preceded by Bharat Mohan Adhikari Succeeded by Bamdev Gautam Minister of Foreign Affairs In office 2006–2007 Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala Preceded by Ramesh Nath Pandey Succeeded by Sahana Pradhan Minister of Home Affairs In office 1994–1995 Prime Minister Man Mohan Adhikari Preceded by Sher Bahadur Deuba Succeeded by Khum Bahadur Khadka
Senior party positions Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) Incumbent Assumed office 8 March 2021 Preceded by Position established (Party revived as per a Supreme Court verdict) In office 2014–2018 Preceded by Jhala Nath Khanal Succeeded by Position abolished (himself as chairman of the Nepal Communist Party) Chairman of the Nepal Communist Party In office 17 May 2018 – 8 March 2021 Serving with Pushpa Kamal Dahal Preceded by Position established (New party) Succeeded by Position abolished (Party dissolved as per a Supreme Court verdict)
Parliamentary offices Member of Parliament, Pratinidhi Sabha Incumbent Assumed office 4 March 2018 Preceded by Keshav Kumar Budhathoki (as member of the Legislature Parliament) Constituency Jhapa–5 In office 1999–2008 Preceded by Chandra Prakash Mainali Succeeded by Gauri Shankar Khadka (as member of the 1st Constituent Assembly) Constituency Jhapa–2 In office 1991–1999 Preceded by Constituency created Succeeded by Gopal Prasad Koirala Constituency Jhapa–6 Member of the Constituent Assembly / Legislature Parliament In office 21 January 2014 – 14 October 2017 Preceded by Bishwodip Lingden Limbu Succeeded by Constituency abolished Constituency Jhapa–7
Personal details
Born	Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli (1952-02-22) 22 February 1952 (age 72) Iwa, Nepal
Political party	CPN (UML) (before 2018; 2021–present)
Other political affiliations	NCP (2018–2021)
Spouse	Radhika Shakya
Signature

Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli (Nepali: खड्ग प्रसाद शर्मा ओली born 22 February 1952) is a Nepali politician who is the current Prime Minister of Nepal, in office since 15 July 2024. He previously served as prime minister from 11 October 2015 to 3 August 2016, and from 15 February 2018 to 13 July 2021, the first prime minister to be appointed following the first general election under the new constitution.

Oli is noted for taking a more hardline stance with regard to the Indian government during and in the aftermath of the 2015 Nepal blockade. He strengthened relations with China as an alternative to Nepal's traditional close trade ties with India and updated the map of Nepal by constitutional amendment including territories disputed with India, for which he has received some domestic praise and a reputation as a nationalist. While in office, Oli was marred by controversy for frequent use of tongue-in-cheek remarks, hostility towards critics and the media, silence on corruption by colleagues and business aides, failing to deliver on economic growth, and for deviating from promised budgetary expenditures despite a historic majority in the 2017 election.

Early political career

Oli at the Tribhuvan International Airport

Born in a Bahun family, Oli began his political career in 1966 in opposition to the partyless Panchayat system in place at the time. He joined the Communist Party of Nepal in February 1970. He was involved in subversive politics and was arrested for the first time in 1970. A year later he became a district committee member of the party and soon the chief of the Jhapa Movement Organizing Committee in 1972. Oli was imprisoned for 14 consecutive years from 1973 to 1987 for opposing the autocratic Panchayat system. After his release from prison in 1987, he became a central committee member of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) and in-charge of the Lumbini zone until 1990.

Multi-party democracy (1991–2006)

After the 1990 People's Movement, he was elected to the House of Representatives from Jhapa–6 in 1991. He was appointed chief of the foreign relations department of the CPN (UML) in 2024.

He was re-elected to the parliament in 1994 and served as the Minister for Home Affairs in Manmohan Adhikari's minority government. He was re-elected from in 1999 from Jhapa constituencies 2 and 6 upon which he gave up his Jhapa–6 seat.

Transition period

Oli was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs as part of the interim government of Girija Prasad Koirala in 2006. He was also assigned to look into the death of fellow politician Madan Bhandari and the investigation committee later declared it to be an unsolved murder.

He was defeated in the 2008 Constituent Assembly election from Jhapa–7. He also lost the election for the position of chairman to Jhala Nath Khanal during the eighth general convention of CPN (UML) in 2009.

He was elected from Jhapa–7 in the 2013 Constituent Assembly election and became leader of the CPN (UML) parliamentary party on 4 February 2014, defeating party chairman Khanal by a vote of 98 to 75 in the parliamentary party. Oli was subsequently elected as the chairman of CPN (UML) in July 2014 during the party's ninth general convention.

First premiership

Oli was elected Prime Minister in a parliamentary vote on 11 October 2015, receiving 338 votes out of 597 members in the Legislature Parliament. Oli's candidacy was supported by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal, and Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum along with 13 other small parties. He was sworn in on 12 October.

Oli's first stint was dominated by the economic blockade imposed by India upon the promulgation of the constitution of Nepal. He took a defiant stance against India's position to amend the constitution and signed trade and transit treaties with China to counter Indian dependence.

Following the withdrawal of support from CPN (Maoist Centre) on 13 July 2016 from the existing coalition government and subsequent registration of a no-confidence motion by the party on 14 July 2016, the CPN (UML)–led government seemingly shrank into a minority, pressuring him to resign. However, CPN (UML) decided to discuss the filed no-confidence motion in the house which led to a three-day parliamentary meeting of the concerned parties. During the process, two other major parties, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, also withdrew their support from the coalition. On the third day, 24 July 2016, after addressing the opposition parties in parliament, Oli announced his resignation. The Indian government was accused of conspiring in bringing down Oli as he stood firmly against the economic blockade imposed by India; an allegation categorically rejected by the Ministry of External Affairs of India.

Second premiership

Oli was appointed Prime Minister for a second time on 15 February 2018 after CPN (UML) became the largest party in the House of Representatives following the 2017 legislative elections with support from Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), the same party whose withdrawal of support had led to resignation in his first term. He passed a motion of confidence with on 11 March 2018 with 208 out of 268 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives. The left alliance of the CPN (UML) and CPN (Maoist Centre) merged to form the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) on 17 May 2018, turning Oli's coalition government to a majority, and giving him a two-thirds majority in the House.

In May 2020, the Oli government unveiled new maps of the country including the disputed territories of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura in response to the inauguration of a road across the Lipulekh pass by the Indian government, which led to a "cartographic war" between the two countries. The government swiftly brought a constitutional amendment bill to amend the official map and emblem of the country in the parliament, which was passed unanimously in both houses before being authenticated by President Bidya Devi Bhandari.

In December 2020, the Oli government recommended the dissolution of the House of Representatives and called for fresh elections on 30 April and 10 May 2021; a step that was readily endorsed by the president. Oli took this step after a series of infighting in the ruling NCP, which culminated with a faction of the party, led by former prime ministers Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal, planning to register a motion of no-confidence against Oli in the House. Oli's reluctance in withdrawing a controversial Constitutional Council Act further led to tensions in the ruling party. This decision from Oli was overturned by the Supreme Court on 23 February 2021, when a constitutional bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana deemed the dissolution of the House to be unconstitutional, and called for the House to be reinstated and a meeting of the Parliament to be held within 13 days. Oli accepted the verdict of the Supreme Court and called for a meeting of the parliament on 7 March.

On 7 March 2021, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark ruling awarding the Nepal Communist Party to Rishiram Kattel after he had challenged the Election Commission's ruling of providing the name of his party to the NCP formed after the merger of CPN (UML) and CPN (Maoist Centre). The court's verdict invalidated the ruling party jointly led by Oli and Dahal, effectively reviving the former CPN (UML) and CPN (Maoist Centre) parties. This reduced Oli's government back to a coalition further mounting political tensions in the country. The CPN (Maoist Centre) recalled its ministers on 13 March 2021 and withdrew its support from the Oli government on 5 May 2021, effectively turning it into a minority government.

On 10 May 2021, Oli failed to obtain a vote of confidence gaining only 93 of the total 232 votes cast in the House of Representatives, which fell 43 votes short of reaching the 136-vote majority required to win the confidence vote. His status was subsequently converted to that of a caretaker prime minister until the appointment of another prime minister by the president.

Third minority premiership and subsequent party split

Oli was appointed Prime Minister for a third time on 13 May 2021 by President Bidya Devi Bhandari, albeit as a minority prime minister, as none of the opposition parties were able to form a majority government or lay their claim for it in the provided time frame. Following the dissolution of the House of Representatives by the president at midnight on 22 May 2021, the Oli government turned into an interim government until fresh elections were held from 12 to 19 November 2021.

On 12 July 2021, the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court formed to hear writs against the dissolution of the House of Representatives filed by the opposition alliance; the Supreme Court stated that president Bidya Devi Bhandari's decision to dissolve the House of Representatives on the recommendation of prime minister Oli was unlawful and ordered the appointment of Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba as prime minister within 28 hours.

Following disputes between Oli and Madhav Nepal, Nepal's faction within the party voted in favour Deuba's motion of confidence, defying the party whip, and subsequently on 18 August, the party was split, with Nepal and Khanal leading a group of 31 MPs to form the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist).

Oli was re-elected party chair in the 10th general convention of the CPN (UML) in November 2021.

2022 election and fourth premiership

Oli led the party in the 2022 general election against an alliance of the ruling parties including Congress, CPN (MC), CPN (US) and others. CPN (UML) secured the most votes in the party list proportional system and became the second-largest party in the House of Representatives. After power-sharing talks broke down between the ruling alliance, Oli and Dahal brokered a deal, backing Dahal's bid as prime minister with support from the UML, Rastriya Swatantra Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, People's Socialist Party, Janamat Party, Nagrik Unmukti Party and three independents. The UML withdrew from the coalition government ahead of the presidential election in March 2023, but joined hands with Dahal again in March 2024.

Following disagreements with the prime minister and other coalition partners with regards to the annual budget and citing the need for a stable government of national consensus, Oli and Nepali Congress' Deuba formed an agreement on 1 July 2024 to form a rotational government with the two party chairs serving equal time as prime minister. CPN (UML) withdrew its support from the Dahal government, and following a failed a motion of confidence for Dahal in the House on 12 July, Oli was appointed prime minister for a fourth stint on 14 July as part of a coalition with the Nepali Congress, and sworn in the following day.

Electoral history

Oli has been elected to the Pratinidhi Sabha from Jhapa in 1991, 1994, 1999 and 2017 on a CPN (UML) ticket. He contested and won from two constituencies in the 1999 election and gave up his Jhapa–6 seat. He lost the 2008 Constituent assembly election, but was elected in 2013. Since the promulgation of the new constitution, he has contested two elections from Jhapa–5 seat, one in 2017 and other in 2022, and won both by scoring majority of votes.

1991 Nepalese general election

1994 Nepalese general election

1999 Nepalese general election

2008 Constituent Assembly election

2013 Constituent Assembly election

2015 Parliamentary Prime Minister election

2017 Nepalese general election

2022 Nepalese general election

Personal life

Oli is married to Radhika Shakya. He met his wife, a fellow communist, after he was released from prison. They first met during party activities and married later.

Health issues

Oli has twice undergone kidney transplant. The first transplant was done in 2007 in Apollo Hospital, New Delhi. The second transplant was carried out in 2020 in Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu. For the second transplant, he received kidney from 32-year-old Samikshya Sangraula, who is reportedly Oli's niece by relation. A senior transplant surgeon from New Delhi, who had done his transplant in 2007, was also present to assist the procedure in Kathmandu.

See also

In Spanish: Khadga Prasad Oli para niños