Former Nepali Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, a moderate figure in the country’s unsettled politics, died on Tuesday, presenting a potential hurdle in attempts to win greater rights for minorities in a new constitution.
Koirala, 78, a senior figure in one of Nepal’s biggest political dynasties, stood down as prime minister in October. He died overnight of respiratory illness, one of his doctors said, at his nephew’s home in Kathmandu.
He had helped prepare Nepal’s first republican constitution that, its authors hoped, would take the Himalayan nation closer to stability and peace after years of conflict and the abolition of the 239-year-old monarchy.
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj was due to fly to Kathmandu on Tuesday to pay her respects. Koirala’s funeral will be held on Wednesday.
Nepal has been in turmoil since the new constitution was adopted in September. Although talks have made scant progress in meeting the grievances of minority Madhesis, who live in Nepal’s southern plains and have close ties to India, tensions eased when they lifted a border blockade on Monday.
Laxman Lal Karna, from the Sadbhavana Party that organised those protests, said Koirala’s death would not derail talks aimed at securing greater rights for minorities.
Others said his death presented a succession problem for the Koirala dynasty. He never married.
More crucial will be who will carry the legacy of the Koirala dynasty that has produced four prime ministers in the past and dominated the Nepali Congress party in the past six decades.Yubaraj Ghimire, editor of the Annapurna Post daily.
The Congress will hold a leadership election next month, with some in the party saying it could then seek to engineer the downfall of Prime Minister KP Oli, whose tough line against Madhesi protesters has angered India.
The front-runner to take over as party leader is Sher Bahadur Deuba, a three-time former prime minister who comes from the same social democratic tradition as Koirala and would likely show little sympathy towards the constitutional protesters.
Thousands of mourners, many carrying bouquets of flowers, gathered outside the house where Koirala’s body lay.
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