Nepal’s President dissolves House, election in November

Nepal’s President Bidya Devi Bhandari

KATHMANDU: 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 caretaker 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.
The surprise announcement comes after a presidential statement said neither Oli, nor opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba were able to demonstrate a majority to form a new government by the Friday deadline set by President Bidya Devi Bhandari. As per Article 76(7) of the constitution, a date to conduct another election within six months must also be fixed. “The president has ordered the first phase of polls on November 12 and the second phase on November 19,” a presidential statement said.
It said the decision was made on the recommendation of the cabinet headed by Oli to dissolve the 275-member House. “It’s been noted that Oli counted those lawmakers as his supporters who extended support to the opposition alliance,” Bhandari said 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 Oli’s recommendation. The Supreme Court had annulled the move in February.
The opposition says Oli, who had lost a vote of confidence this month, has no legal authority to recommend the dissolution of the parliament. Five opposition leaders said in a joint statement the PM had pushed the country into a serious problem at a time when people were suffering and dying due to the pandemic.
The president did not follow her constitutional responsibility of appointing a new PM on the basis of the constitutional claim as per Article 76 (5) of the constitution with signatures of majority lawmakers, the joint statement said. “Instead she sided with Oli with malafide intentions and dissolved parliament in an attack on the constitution and democracy,” it said.
The opposition condemned the 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, Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal’s Upendra Yadav and Rastriya Janamorcha’s Durga Paudel. Prakash Sharan Mahat of the opposition Nepali Congress said they’ll launch a political and legal fight against the move. The opposition alliance is devising a strategy to approach the Supreme Court on Sunday demanding to scrap the president’s decision.
Nepal’s political crisis took a dramatic turn on Friday as Oli and the opposition parties staked separate claims for the formation of a new government by submitting letters of support from lawmakers to the president.
Oli claimed the support of 121 lawmakers from his own party CPN-UML and 32 lawmakers of Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N) for his reappointment as PM. According to the statement from the president’s office, 26 lawmakers of the CPN-UML and12 MPs of the Janata Samajbadi Party had backed both Oli and Deuba. Oli, 69, says fresh polls could end the political confusion of recent months. Election could be held despite the pandemic, he said on Friday.