(KATHMANDU, GNB)- NepalĀ is facing another political crisis as President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Friday night dissolved the parliament, denying claims of both the ruling and opposition parties to form the government.
In a dramatic turn of events, Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the parliament and announced mid-term polls on November 12 and 19.
President Bhandari decided to dissolve the house after she determined that both the embattled Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and the Opposition alliance were not in a position to form a government.
āThe president has dissolved the House of Representatives and ordered the first phase of general elections on 12 November and the second phase on 19 November,” a presidential statement issued after midnight said.
Bhandariās announcement came after Prime Minister Oli recommended the dissolution of the 275-member House following an emergency midnight Cabinet meeting.
The Office of the President announced in a statement on Fridayy that the House of Representatives has been dissolved in accordance with Article 76(7) of the Constitution, which provisions House dissolution should the Prime Minister appointed as per clause 5 fail to gain the trust of the House.
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 council of ministers has recommended conducting`the first phase of the poll on November 12 and the second phase on November 19.
Nepalās political crisis had taken a dramatic turn on Friday as embattled Prime Minister K P Sharma 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.
Prime Minister Oli had reached the President’s Office Shital Niwas and presented his list, a couple of minutes ahead of the Opposition leaders.
Following President Bhandari’s call on the members of the House of Representatives (HoR) to form a new government on Thursday, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and President of Nepali Congress (NC) Sher Bahadur Deuba on Friday submitted their claims to form a new majority government on Friday afternoon.
Issuing a press statement on Friday night, Keshav Prasad Ghimire, assistant spokesperson at the President’s Office, said, “Prime Minister cannot be appointed as no concrete basis has been seen in the claims submitted by HoR members Oli and Deuba for obtaining the vote of confidence at the parliament as per Article 76 (5) of the Constitution.”
A total of 153 HoR members including 121 of CPN-UML and 32 of Janata Samajwadi Party (Nepal) had supported Prime Minister Oli’s claim to majority government as per Article 76 (5) and (6). According to the press statement issued by the President’s office, it has been said that JSP Chairman Mahanta Thakur and leader Rajendra Mahato had signed in the claim.
“Although Prime Minister Oli has said that 153 parliamentarians were in his support, 26 lawmakers from CPN-UML and 12 from JSP have signed in the claim submitted by Deuba,” read the statement.
Interestingly, both Oli and Deuba had claimed the support of some lawmakers, whose names were included in the list of both of them, according to Nepalese media reports.
This is the second time President Bhandari has dissolved Parliament on the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli following a political crisis.
Last year on December 20, President Bhandari had dissolved Parliament but later it was reinstated by the Supreme Court in February.
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