Protest against House dissolution: Effigies of president, prime minister burned (with photos)

Nepal lived one long year in political instability since House dissolution. What next?

Onlinekhabar English मंसिर २०७८

Arguments centre on if court can appoint Deuba prime minister

Chief justice asks whether it will be the right thing for the bench to pick prime minister as demanded by petitioners, as hearing on House dissolution continues.

The Kathmandu Post जेष्ठ २०७८

Lawyers defending House dissolution face intense grilling

Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana asks lawyers whether it is mandatory for the President to appoint a prime minister after Article 76(5) is invoked.

The Kathmandu Post जेष्ठ २०७८

Defendants to begin debate on House dissolution case from today

KATHMANDU, June 28: The defendants’ lawyers and government attorneys are scheduled to begin their debate on the House dissolution case which is being heard by the constitutional bench. Government attorneys and legal practitioners representing the prime minister and the president will try to defend the House dissolution move, which has been, however, challenged by 26 writ petitioners. The lower house of parliament was dissolved on May 22 by President Bidya Devi Bhandari upon the recommendation of the KP Sharma Oli-led Cabinet. Legal practitioners on behalf of the writ petitioners finished their debates on Sunday. The five-member constitutional bench allocated 15 hours each to both the sides --- petitioners and defendants. Petitioners now have three hours left for a reply debate. Once the debate by defendants is over, Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota’s legal practitioners will present their arguments in the allotted one hour Plaintiffs will again present their reply which is then followed by the opinion to be presented by the amicus curiae. The bench comprising the justices Dipak Kumar Karki, Mira Khadka, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Dr Aanad Mohan Bhattarai along with Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR will pass the final verdict once it receives amicus curiae’ s opinion on the case.

Ratopati English जेष्ठ २०७८

Hearing on House dissolution case resumes from today

KATHMANDU, June 23: Hearing on the writ petitions registered against the dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR) is scheduled to resume from Wednesday. The Constitutional Bench headed by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR, which refused to issue an interim order as demanded by the petitioners, on June 9, asked the defendants including Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, the Office of President and the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) to submit a written response by Tuesday. PM Oli and President Bidya Devi Bhandari submitted the written response to the Supreme Court earlier on June 17. As many as 26 writ petitions have been filed at the apex court demanding it reinstate the 275-member lower house of parliament, while four other petitions have asked the court to issue an order to appoint KP Sharma Oli as the prime minister as per the Article 76 (5) of the Constitution of Nepal. The five-member Constitutional Bench comprising Justices Dipak Kumar Karki, Mira Khadka, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Anand Mohan Shrestha along with CJ Rana himself has been hearing the case. It is to be noted that President Bidya Devi Bhandari, at the recommendation of the KP Oli-led Cabinet, dissolved the House on May 22. It is the second time in five months that the lower house got dissolved. Earlier, the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench had restored the House, which was dissolved on December 20, 2020, on March 7.

Ratopati English जेष्ठ २०७८

Bhandari, Oli defend House dissolution, Sapkota calls it unconstitutional

In their responses, the President claims her action cannot be tested by judiciary, prime minister argues court cannot give a prime minister and Speaker says both are wrong.

The Kathmandu Post जेष्ठ २०७८

Caretaker PM Oli forms full-fledged Cabinet

KATHMANDU, June 10: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who has been serving as the caretaker prime minister after the House dissolution, has expanded his Cabinet. In his recent expansion on Thursday, PM Oli has kept the portfolio of the Defence Ministry with himself. Releasing a statement earlier today, the Office of President shared that PM Oli formed a 25-member Cabinet. He made several reshuffles on June 4 as he inducted 10 ministers from the Mahantha Thakur-faction of the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP). Khagraj Adhikari has been appointed as the Minister for Home Affairs while JSP’s Raj Kishor Yadav will serve as the Minister for Industry Commerce and Supply. Similarly, Nainkala Thapa, spouse of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal’ has been appointed as the Minister for Communication and Information Technology. Jwala Kumari Sah, Narad Muni Rana, Ganesh Pahdai, Mohan Baniya and Asha Kumari BK are among those inducted in the Cabinet on Thursday. Of them, Baniya will remain the minister without portfolio while BK will remain as the minister of state. See the full cabinet:

Ratopati English बैशाख २०७८

"House dissolution was followed by procedural error"

KATHMANDU, May 28: Hearing over the writ petitions registered at the Supreme Court (SC) against the ‘unconstitutional’ dissolution of the House of Representatives is underway at the Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR-led five-member Constitutional Bench on Friday afternoon. Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR formed a five-member Constitutional Bench under his leadership. The other four members of the Constitutional Bench include the justices Dipak Kumar Karki, Dr Aanand Mohan Bhattarai, Tej Bahadur KC and Bam Kumar Shrestha. Petitioners and legal eagles, while pleading over the case, argued that the recent dissolution of the House had procedural error. Pleading against the dissolution, advocate Santosh Bhandari demanded the apex court reinstate the HoR as it was dissolved without completing the constitutional procedure of new government formation. Another advocate, Sujan Nepal said that the prime minister elected as per Article 76 (3) can not skip Article 76 (4) and move on to Clause 5. “Article 76 (5) can be implemented only if the prime minister resigns or loses trust vote in parliament as per Clause 5,” he argued. Another petitioner, advocate Shailendra Prasad Ambedkar said that the prime minister, who has yet to win a vote from parliament, can not dissolve the House. Similarly, Mohana Ansari and Raj Kumar Suwal also pleaded against the House dissolution. Of the 30 petitions registered at the Supreme Court (SC), 19 were heard at a single-bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR on Thursday. All of them have also been forwarded to the Constitutional Bench. Writ petitioners have demanded the SC issue an interim order to restore parliament. Friday’s bench will decide whether or not to issue the interim order as sought by the petitioners. President Bidya Devi Bhandari, upon the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, dissolved parliament on May 22 as per Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal.

Ratopati English बैशाख २०७८

How KP Oli exercises all possible ways in constitution to become prime minister

KATHMANDU, May 25: KP Sharma Oli has made a unique 'record' by moving across all the articles of the constitution which are meant for the formation of the Council of Ministers, in the single tenure of the House of Representatives (HoR). For this, Oli has taken all possible measures. PM Oli, interpreting the constitution himself, is now steering ahead by flouting Article 76 (4) of the Constitution of Nepal. Article 76 of the constitution mentions four different provisions for forming a government. First, government under the leader of a parliamentary party that commands majority in the House of Representatives (HoR) as the Prime Minister (Clause 1 and the second, government of a member of the House of Representatives who can command majority with the support of two or more parties representing in the HoR (Clause 2). Similarly, Clause 3 states that as the parliamentary party leader of the party which has the highest number of MPs in the HoRcan form a new government while Clause 5 states that the president shall appoint a member who presents a ground on which he or she can obtain a vote of confidence in parliament. Prime Minister Oli has attempted to exercise all four provisions in order to take charge of the government. Oli, who was appointed as the prime minister as per Article 76 (3) on May 10, skipped the Article 76 (4) and also dissolved the lower house of parliament by exercising the power of the prime minister as mentioned in Clause 6. This is not the first time he has dissolved parliament. He had earlier dissolved the 275-member House of Representatives on December 20 last year which was, however, restored by February 23 order of the Supreme Court. Oli, who was appointed as the Prime Minister on February 15,2018, had assumed the office as the chief executive of the country in accordance with Article 76, Clause 2. Clause 2 of Articlle 76 states that the president shall appoint a member of the House of Representatives who can command a majority with the support of two or more parties at the HoR as the prime minister in case no party has a clear majority in the House. Following the unification of the CPN-UML and the CPN-Maoist Center to the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) on May 17, 2018, Oli was automatically transformed into the prime minister under Article 76 (1). The Constitutional Bench, during its verdict on the House dissolution case on February 23 also admitted this fact. Article 76, Clause 1 of the Constitution provides for the appointment of the leader of the parliamentary party having a majority in the House of Representatives as the Prime Minister. Although Oli was not sworn in under Clause 2, the essence of the Supreme Court's verdict was that he was the prime minister under Clause 1 following the merger deal between the UML and Maouist. Even after the Supreme Court, through its March 7 order, invalidated the erstwhile ruling NCP and resurrected the UML and Maoist Center, Oli remained as the Prime Minister under Clause 1 for more than two months before he lost a trust vote in parliament on May 10. Shortly after Oli lost the trust vote, President Bidya Devi Bhandari called upon the political parties for the formation of a new government under Clause 2 in the stipulated time frame of three days. As other parties failed to stake claim for the new government, Oli was again appointed the prime minister under Clause 3 which states that the President shall appoint the parliamentary party leader of the party which has the highest number of members in HoR as the prime minister if the government cannot be formed under clause 2. The prime minister appointed under Clause 3 shall obtain a vote of confidence from the parliament no later than thirty days after the date of such appointment. However, Prime Minister Oli did not seek a confidence vote and said he ‘had facilitated’ the process of formation of a new government under Clause 5. Following the recommendation made by the Council of Ministers, President Bhandari on Thursday evening (May 20) called upon the members of parliament to stake claim for a new government formation, extending a deadline of 21 hours. It is stated in the Article 76 (5) that the president shall appoint such a member as the prime minister who can present a ground on which he or she can obtain a vote of confidence in the HoR in case the PM appointed under Clause 3 fails to obtain a vote of confidence under Clause 4. Nepali Congress (C) President, Sher Bahadur Deuba laid a claim for the new government formation as per Article 76 (5) to the president on May 21 (Friday). Deuba claimed to have the support of 149 lawmakers with him. PM Oli, who had earlier announced the facilitation for new government formation, also staked a claim for the new government as per Article 76 (5). However, President Bhandari rejected both teht claims dissolved parliament, using the power of the prime minister under Clause 5. Prime Minister Oli has set up a unique precedent in Nepal’s parliamentary history by exercising all the possible provisions for new government formation as mentioned in Article 76.

Ratopati English बैशाख २०७८

What parties, leaders and legal eagles say about House dissolution move

KATHMANDU, May 22: President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the lower house of parliament --- the House of Representatives --- as per Article 76 (7) and announced fresh parliamentary elections for November 12 and 19 upon the recommendation of Cabinet meeting held on Friday midnight. Earlier that, President Bhandari rejected the claims staked for the new government formation as per Article 76 (5). Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli claimed to have the support of a majority of lawmakers in parliament. While PM Oli said that as many as 153 lawmakers --- 121 from the UML and 32 from the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) --- supported him for new government formation, Deuba also claimed to have support of 149 lawmakers --- 61 from NC, 49 from CPN (Maoist Center), 26 from ruling CPN-UML’s Madhav Nepal faction, 12 from Janata Samajbadi Party’s Upendra Yadav faction and an independent lawmaker. The claims from both the leaders were rejected citing the lack of strong bases for new government formation as per Article 76 (5). Following the House dissolution move, opposition parties, leaders of various political parties and legal experts have issued statements and criticised the move as it was ‘against the spirit of the Constitution of Nepal.’ The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) said that Saturday’s House dissolution move has drawn its serious attention. President Sher Bahadur Deuba accused President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister KP Oli of abusing the constitution as their private property. In a statement issued on Saturday, Deuba announced to wage political and legal battles against the move. Chairman of the CPN (Maoist Center), Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' said that the move to dissolve the House of Representatives is unconstitutional. He accused Presidenti Bhandari of dissolving the House of Representatives upon the recommendation of the government that triggered the conspiracy to sabotage the constitution. Shortly after the meeting of the leaders of the opposition alliance, Dahal also announced a political and legal fight against the move . An alliance of five political parties including the NC, Maoist Center, Nepal-led factgion of ruling CPN-UML, Yadav-led faction of Janata Samajbadi Party and Rastriya Jana Morcha decided to strongly object to Saturday’s House dissolution move. A meeting of the alliance held on Saturday afternoon also announced political and legal fights against the move as it was ‘unconstitutional, undemocratic and regressive. Issuing a joint statement following the meeting, the parties condemned the dissolution of the HoR and blamed Presdient Bhndari for joining PM Oli to make a series of assaults on democracy and constitution. UML senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal has accused Prime Minister KP Oli of tampering with the constitution. In a statement issued on Saturday, Nepal said that Oli's move to dissolve the House of Representatives was a severe insult to the people’s fights and struggles for democracy, nationalism and their livelihood. Condemning the `undemocratic and unconstitutional move of Prime Minister Oli and President Bhandari , Nepal urged the pro-democracy leaders, activists and members of the party to unite and move forward against regression as democracy is in ‘crisis’. The Bibeksheel Sajha Party has condemned President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s move to dissolve the House of Representatives (HoR) on Friday and termed it as the crime jointed committed by the prime minister and president at a time the country is grappling with the pandemic of the coronavirus disease. The party has also demanded a judicial review of the dissolution move and urged the political parties and civil society to unite against the ‘unconstitutional’ move. Constitution expert and senior advocate Dr Chandra Kanta Gyawali said that it was a wrong call of President Bidya Devi Bhandari to ask the lawmakers to show the support of majority in parliament while staking claim for the formation of a new government as per Article 76 (5) of the Constitution of Nepal. Talking to Ratopati hours after the President, at the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, dissolved the House of Representatives (HoR), Dr Gyawali said that Prime Minister’s KP Sharma Oli’s claim for new government formation on Friday, too, was also unconstitutional. “He [PM Oli] had once lost a trust vote from parliament on May 10. As he said that the government recommended to the president citing that it could not win a trust vote amid the contemporary political situation, he should not have staked a claim for a new government on Friday.”

Ratopati English बैशाख २०७८

Protest against House dissolution: Effigies of president, prime minister burned (with photos)

सम्बन्धित सामग्री

Chief justice asks whether it will be the right thing for the bench to pick prime minister as demanded by petitioners, as hearing on House dissolution continues.

Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana asks lawyers whether it is mandatory for the President to appoint a prime minister after Article 76(5) is invoked.

In their responses, the President claims her action cannot be tested by judiciary, prime minister argues court cannot give a prime minister and Speaker says both are wrong.