Nepal’s President dissolved the House of Representatives on Saturday for the second time in five months and announced snap elections in November, rejecting both embattled Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and the Opposition alliance’s claims to form a government, a move that will be legally challenged yet again.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari announced in an early morning statement that the House of Representatives has been dissolved in accordance with Article 76 (7) of the Constitution, ending a day of high-voltage political drama in the Himalayan nation, amidst the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
As per the Article, a date to conduct another election within six months must also be fixed. The President has called early elections pursuant to the Article, the dates being set for November 12 and November 19.
The announcement came after Prime Minister Oli in his last deal-sealing move on Friday midnight recommended the Office of the President to dissolve the 275-member House and announce dates for early elections.
Earlier, Mr. Oli and Opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba had staked separate claims to premiership, both of which were rejected by the President, citing that none had adequate grounds for winning a vote of confidence.
“It has been noted that Prime Minister Oli counted those lawmakers as his supporters who extended support to the Opposition alliance, whereas the UML and JSP-N have forwarded letters stating action would be taken against those who had gone against the party to endorse the Opposition’s claim,” Ms. Bhandari said in a statement late on Friday.
The President’s announcement plunged Nepal into further political crisis, a reminder of her December 2020 decision when she first dissolved the House at Mr. Oli’s recommendation, a move that swayed the course of Nepali politics towards uncertainty.
The Supreme Court had annulled the duo’s move in February.
Alarmed by the move yet again, the leaders of Nepal’s Opposition alliance on Saturday decided to take all legal and political means to counter Prime Minister Oli and President Bhandari’s “unconstitutional and undemocratic” move of dissolving the House.
In a joint statement issued at the end of a meeting called to discuss the matter, the Opposition leaders expressed their commitment to “defend the constitutional rights of Nepali citizens achieved at the end of years of political struggle.”
They appealed to all political and civil forces to condemn and stand against the Oli-Bhandari duo’s “regressive, autocratic intentions”. They condemned their move as “unconstitutional, undemocratic and arbitrary.” The statement was signed by Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-Maoist Centre Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, Chairperson of Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal Upendra Yadav and Vice-Chair of the Rastriya Janamorcha Durga Paudel.
The Opposition alliance is devising a strategy to approach the Supreme Court with all its lawmakers on Sunday demanding to scrap the President’s decision.
The parties blamed the President for making an assault on the Constitution and democracy in partnership with the Prime Minister, who had lost a trust vote in the House.
“The President should have appointed NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba as per Article 76 (5) of the Constitution as he had the support of 149 lawmakers of the lower house of parliament,” My Republica website quoted the alliance’s statement.
The parties claimed that the government is hell-bent on its attempt to prolong the autocratic rule despite the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
The Nepali Congress also accused President Bhandari and Prime Minister Oli of misusing the Constitution for their own benefit as their personal property.
“Prime Minister Oli recommending forming a new government, President Bhandari announcing to stake a claim to form new government giving less than 24 hours, not appointing prime minister as per the provision of the Constitution and dissolving HoR and holding a cabinet meeting in the middle of the night are unconstitutional and anti-democratic,” the statement said.
Published - May 22, 2021 09:26 pm IST
