Nepal's Oppn to file writ petition against House dissolution today
Kathmandu: Nepal's Opposition alliance on Sunday postponed the registration of a writ petition in the Supreme Court and will file it on Monday against the "unconstitutional" dissolution of the House of Representatives by the President.
The Opposition parties, which had planned to register the writ on Sunday, put off the procedure until Monday, citing lack of adequate time.
According to a CPN-Maoist Centre leader, the petition will be filed at 10:00 am on Monday, The Himalayan Times reported.
Leaders of the alliance on Sunday were engaged in conducting meetings and collecting signatures of the lawmakers from the Maoist Centre, the Nepali Congress, the Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal, Rastriya Janamorcha and Madhav Nepal faction of the ruling CPN-UML, it said.
Although the signature collection campaign has not ended, more than enough people have signed up to prove a majority, the report quoted a Maoist Centre leader.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the 275-member House of Representatives on Saturday for the second time in five months and announced snap elections on November 12 and November 19 on the advice of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, heading a minority government.
She rejected the bids of both embattled Prime Minister Oli and the Opposition alliance's claims to form a government. Oli and Opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba had staked separate claims to the premiership.
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 House and announce dates for early elections.
Alarmed by the President's step to dissolve the House 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, undemocratic and regressive" move.
The Opposition alliance 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 authorities in Nepal on Sunday tightened security around the Supreme Court building and government offices in view of the Opposition's decision to move the apex court on dissolution of the House.
In a joint statement issued at the end of their meeting on Saturday, the Opposition leaders said the President did not follow her constitutional responsibility of appointing a new prime minister based on the constitutional claim as per Article 76 (5) of the constitution with signatures of majority lawmakers.
Instead, she sided with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli with malafide intentions and dissolved Parliament in an attack on the Constitution and democracy. This regressive move has pushed the country towards new political polarisation and complexity," they said in a joint statement.
The statement was signed by Nepali Congress President 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 president's announcement on Saturday plunged Nepal into further political crisis, a reminder of her December 2020 decision when she first dissolved the House at 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.
Nepal's political crisis took a dramatic turn on Friday as embattled Prime Minister 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 party CPN-UML and 32 lawmakers of Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N) for his reappointment under Article 76(5) of the Constitution.
Nepali Congress President Deuba claimed to have garnered the support of 149 lawmakers.
