KATHMANDU: Beleaguered Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli on Sunday he surprised his rivals and got the president to dissolve parliament, a controversial move amid a protracted power struggle between him and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda.”
President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the House of Representatives of Parliament on Oli’s recommendation and announced midterm general elections in April-May, a decision criticized by the opposition as unconstitutional.
Earlier, an emergency Cabinet meeting chaired by Oli decided to recommend the dissolution of Parliament to the president, a high-ranking member of the Standing Committee of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) told PTI.
The first phase of the midterm elections will be held on April 30 and May 10 for the second phase, according to a notice issued by Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The 275-member House of Representatives, which is the lower house of Parliament, was elected in 2017 for a five-year term. The tall house is the National Assembly.
The move comes as the dispute within the party reached the climax in the ruling NCP, which has witnessed a fight for months between two factions, one led by Oli, 68, and the Party chairman, and another led by “ Prachanda ”, 66 years old. , also the party’s chief executive and former prime minister.
The spokesman for the ruling PNC, Narayankaji Shrestha, called Oli’s move “undemocratic, unconstitutional and autocratic.”
He said the ruling party will hold its Standing Committee meeting to discuss the matter.
The main leader of the ruling PNC and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal called the measure unconstitutional.
The leaders of the ruling PNC have met in Prachandaresidence to discuss Oli’s decision.
“The leaders have consulted on the problems caused by Prime Minister Oli’s decision,” said Prachanda press adviser Bishnu Sapkota, adding that Madhav Nepal, Jhalanath Khanal and Narayan Kaji Shrestha, among others, were present at the meeting.
Prachanda and other party leaders will visit the Prime Minister’s residence for talks on recent political developments.
Prachanda had also visited Oli’s residence on Sunday morning, but had returned without meeting the prime minister, The Rising Nepal reported.
Meanwhile, constitutional experts have called the measure to dissolve Parliament unconstitutional.
Under the provision of Nepal’s constitution, there is no provision for dissolution of Parliament by the prime minister of a majority government, they said, adding that Oli’s measure is likely to be challenged in court.
As long as the possibility of forming the government exists, there is no provision to dissolve the House, said constitutional expert Dinesh Tripathi.
Another constitutional expert, Bhimarjun Acharya, said that Oli’s recommendation to dissolve the House was a constitutional coup.
“The Constitution of Nepal does not allow the prime minister to go to mid-term elections dissolving the House of Representatives if there is a possibility of forming the government from within Parliament,” he said.
Calling Oli’s move “unconstitutional and irresponsible,” former Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai said: “By inviting political uncertainty as before, this decision has torn apart our effort to improve the Constituent Assembly system. This goes against democratic values and the constitution.
“In the new Constitution, we had decided the mandate of the House of Representatives for five years to guarantee political stability. Taking into account the political instabilities of the past, we had ensured that instabilities would not be invited by dissolving the parliament before the end of its term ”.
The main Nepalese Congress of the Opposition (NC) has called an emergency meeting of the party on Sunday.
The move comes a day after NC and the Rastriya Janata Party decided to ask the president to convene a Special Session of Parliament.
North Carolina President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba recently harshly criticized the Oli government for its “attempts to impose a totalitarian one-party government in the country.”
The Prachanda and Madhav Nepal faction had been urging Oli to step down as prime minister amid mounting accusations and counter-charges between the two factions in the ruling PNC.
On November 13, in his 19-page political document presented at the PNC Secretariat meeting, Prachanda criticized Oli for not properly leading both the government and the party, and even accused Oli of corruption.
However, Oli, known for his pro-China leanings, denied the allegations and challenged Prachanda to legally prove the corruption charges or apologize.
The prime minister had submitted a separate 38-page political document in response to the accusations made by Prachanda.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the House of Representatives of Parliament on Oli’s recommendation and announced midterm general elections in April-May, a decision criticized by the opposition as unconstitutional.
Earlier, an emergency Cabinet meeting chaired by Oli decided to recommend the dissolution of Parliament to the president, a high-ranking member of the Standing Committee of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) told PTI.
The first phase of the midterm elections will be held on April 30 and May 10 for the second phase, according to a notice issued by Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The 275-member House of Representatives, which is the lower house of Parliament, was elected in 2017 for a five-year term. The tall house is the National Assembly.
The move comes as the dispute within the party reached the climax in the ruling NCP, which has witnessed a fight for months between two factions, one led by Oli, 68, and the Party chairman, and another led by “ Prachanda ”, 66 years old. , also the party’s chief executive and former prime minister.
The spokesman for the ruling PNC, Narayankaji Shrestha, called Oli’s move “undemocratic, unconstitutional and autocratic.”
He said the ruling party will hold its Standing Committee meeting to discuss the matter.
The main leader of the ruling PNC and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal called the measure unconstitutional.
The leaders of the ruling PNC have met in Prachandaresidence to discuss Oli’s decision.
“The leaders have consulted on the problems caused by Prime Minister Oli’s decision,” said Prachanda press adviser Bishnu Sapkota, adding that Madhav Nepal, Jhalanath Khanal and Narayan Kaji Shrestha, among others, were present at the meeting.
Prachanda and other party leaders will visit the Prime Minister’s residence for talks on recent political developments.
Prachanda had also visited Oli’s residence on Sunday morning, but had returned without meeting the prime minister, The Rising Nepal reported.
Meanwhile, constitutional experts have called the measure to dissolve Parliament unconstitutional.
Under the provision of Nepal’s constitution, there is no provision for dissolution of Parliament by the prime minister of a majority government, they said, adding that Oli’s measure is likely to be challenged in court.
As long as the possibility of forming the government exists, there is no provision to dissolve the House, said constitutional expert Dinesh Tripathi.
Another constitutional expert, Bhimarjun Acharya, said that Oli’s recommendation to dissolve the House was a constitutional coup.
“The Constitution of Nepal does not allow the prime minister to go to mid-term elections dissolving the House of Representatives if there is a possibility of forming the government from within Parliament,” he said.
Calling Oli’s move “unconstitutional and irresponsible,” former Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai said: “By inviting political uncertainty as before, this decision has torn apart our effort to improve the Constituent Assembly system. This goes against democratic values and the constitution.
“In the new Constitution, we had decided the mandate of the House of Representatives for five years to guarantee political stability. Taking into account the political instabilities of the past, we had ensured that instabilities would not be invited by dissolving the parliament before the end of its term ”.
The main Nepalese Congress of the Opposition (NC) has called an emergency meeting of the party on Sunday.
The move comes a day after NC and the Rastriya Janata Party decided to ask the president to convene a Special Session of Parliament.
North Carolina President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba recently harshly criticized the Oli government for its “attempts to impose a totalitarian one-party government in the country.”
The Prachanda and Madhav Nepal faction had been urging Oli to step down as prime minister amid mounting accusations and counter-charges between the two factions in the ruling PNC.
On November 13, in his 19-page political document presented at the PNC Secretariat meeting, Prachanda criticized Oli for not properly leading both the government and the party, and even accused Oli of corruption.
However, Oli, known for his pro-China leanings, denied the allegations and challenged Prachanda to legally prove the corruption charges or apologize.
The prime minister had submitted a separate 38-page political document in response to the accusations made by Prachanda.
In June, Oli claimed that efforts were being made to overthrow him after his government redesigned the country’s political map by incorporating three strategically key indigenous territories.
India had called the “artificial enlargement” of Nepal’s land claims “unsustainable” after its Parliament unanimously approved the country’s new political map with the Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura areas that India maintains as its own.
The NCP, formed after the merger between the Oli-led CPN-UML and the Prachanda-led CPN (Maoist Center) in May 2018, is split into the two factions led by Oli and Prachanda.
The Prachanda faction enjoys a majority in the nine-member Secretariat, the party’s highest decision-making body.
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