For the second time in a week,  Nepal’s former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda reiterated his call to the international community to save democracy in Nepal.

“We call upon the international community… particularly those who call themselves the world’s largest democracy and those who believe in democratic values and norms, and our neighbors to speak up against Oli’s move,” Dahal, the main political rival of Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post.

Interestingly, Dahal avoided directly naming India and referenced it as “the world’s largest democracy.” Earlier on Tuesday, Dahal also made a similar call while interacting with the correspondents of international media.

After Oli dissolved the lower house of parliament on 20 December last year, the Dahal-Nepal faction of the ruling Nepal Communist Party is finding it hard to get support from India and China, or the international community at large.

India called the issue an “internal issue” on the same day the house was dissolved, and later even hosted an official delegation led by Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali in New Delhi in January.

Western countries, so far, have avoided commenting on the issue or taking sides in the country’s political drama. A report in The Kathmandu Post said the envoys from western countries in Kathamandu had held a virtual meeting but there was no consensus on releasing a statement on the issue.