Kathmandu, July 21 -- When Krishna Bahadur Mahara stepped down in October 2019 following attempt to rape allegations, it set off a tusssle in the then Nepal Communist Party (NCP), with both chairs KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal trying to extract the position for person of their choice.

After flexing muscles for months, Dahal finally managed to install his man, Agni Sapkota, as the head of the House of Representatives in the third week of January 2020. The quarrel over the post among leaders of the same party is a testament to how Nepali politicians pay little attention to the system. After Sapkota's name was decided for House Speaker, Shiva Maya Tumbahangphe resigned as deputy Speaker on January 20, 2020, as constitutional provisio...