CPN-UML Chairman and former prime minister KP Sharma Oli, 72, made a prophetic claim on Friday that he would be active in politics for another 20 years. Oli has already had two kidney transplants.

Oli is a leader of one of Nepal’s three prominent parties, all led by males over 70. They are often criticised for not making room for new generation leaders.

“Some might think they would do as they want if I am out of the scene,” Oli said in Pokhara, addressing a party function. “My hair is regrowing, without transplant. My moustache is also turning black. So for the next 20 years, no one should expect [to take my place],” said Oli, boasting of his robustness.

Until last year, Oli had been saying he would be active in politics for another decade. Now he has raised the bar. “In order to bring the country back on track and to remove poverty, hunger and disparity, the UML will take rest only after 20 years,” he added, hinting at his own desired time for retirement.

Oli may have made enemies during his continued leadership of the party for nearly a decade, his two terms as prime minister and his earlier tenures as minister. His toughest stance was against Nepal’s ethnic politics and India’s blockade of Nepal following the promulgation of the new constitution in 2015.

On Friday, Oli did not name anyone who could be a threat to his UML leadership. He could simply have been hinting at his political rivals such as former President and UML vice-chairperson Bidya Devi Bhandari, according to a UML leader. “This is also a message to former party leaders like Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal and Bamdev Gautam.”

Nepal and Khanal formed a new party in 2021 after splitting from the UML, while Gautam leads an independent campaign. Khanal and Gautam seem ready to return to the UML if they get respectable positions in the party. Madhav Nepal has not expressed his readiness to work with the UML but his CPN (Unified Socialist) struggles to maintain its relevance in national politics. Bhandari is also rumoured to be planning to return to and lead the UML. It’s not unnatural for Oli to see them as rivals. The next two decades could make many of Oli’s opponents—even himself—irrelevant.

“There are speculations that former President Bhandari will rejoin her former party. Based on my recent meeting with her, she has no intent of returning to active politics,” said Bishnu Rijal, a central committee member of the UML.

If there is a merger between the UML and the Unified Socialist whose top leaders are Nepal and Khanal, they might pose a threat to Oli’s leadership. Since their split in 2021, Oli had not even recognised the new party—until the presidential election last year.

The two sides made a rapprochement during the change in ruling coalition last month with Oli, alongside Maoist Centre leader and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, visiting Nepal at his residence to enquire about his health and to win his backing for the emerging political bloc.

Within the UML, Oli’s position is unchallenged. Bhim Rawal has been sidelined after challenging Oli’s leadership during the general convention in November 2021.

“He made similar statements earlier, too,” said UML Deputy General Secretary Pradeep Gyawali about Oli. “His statement today does not mean he will stop others from becoming party chairman.”

What’s sure, said Gyawali, is there is no alternative to Oli in the UML. “No one can imagine the country without the UML and the UML without Oli. Agreements and disagreements aside, Nepal’s politics cannot move ahead without Oli. This is what the opposition also accepts,” said Gyawali.

Oli went on a month-long march of the party, and has actively travelled across the country, addressing mass meetings and party functions.

That is suggestive of his will power and also a motivation for other party leaders and cadres, said Rajendra Gautam, head of the party’s publicity department. “The chairman energises the party and it should not be seen as trying to block someone’s rise to party leadership.”

Oli is the only Nepali leader who can bring national and international players to the table and force them to stand in favour of Nepal’s national interest, Gautam claimed. There are no other leaders like Oli in contemporary Nepali politics. There is no alternative to him in the UML party as well as in national politics, he said.

“We are clear that as long as his health supports, Oli is unrivalled,” said Rijal.

Another UML leader said Oli will nurture youth leaders and give them space on various party platforms. But he would not allow anyone to replace him. “Until the country prospers, we will not take a rest,” Oli said in Pokhara. “Some dream of a Nepal without the UML and UML without Oli, but that is not going to happen. We will transform the country.”

This is also suggestive of Oli’s mindset about his own indispensability. The only hint of leadership transfer he dropped in Pokhara is that he would encourage leaders to rise to the party’s leadership after he clears the way.

“We set a wrong precedent in the party by appointing former chairmen as ‘senior party leader’ and arranging for their seating close to the incumbent chair,” said Oli, referring to the status accorded to Khanal and Nepal after they left the party chair. “When I step down from the party chair, I will not sit next to the new chairperson and won’t keep looking for opportunities.”

Oli clarified that he would not seek favours after leaving the top party post, in obvious reference to Madhav Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal, who have often complained about not being accorded the respect and status after leaving the top party position.

Nepal ran the party for 15 years. He still complains he did not get what he deserved, said Oli. Khanal was the party leader for 13 years and is still looking for roles in the party and the legislature. Nepal has frequently complained that Oli did not give him due respect. Khanal was trying to stand in the Ilam-2 bypolls scheduled for April 27 if other parties supported his candidacy. He is now out of the poll scene.

“The Nepali people took me out of the jail, made me a leader, party chairman, lawmaker and prime minister. What else do I need?” Oli said, answering Nepal and Khanal’s oft-repeated aspirations.