Why Nepal President Dissolved Parliament?

President of Nepal, Bidhya Devi Bhandari, dissolved the House of Representatives on May 22, 2021. The decision was taken on the recommendations of cabinet headed by caretaker Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. Fresh elections will be held in November 2021.

How President gets power to dissolve the Parliament?

President gets power to dissolve House of Representatives or Parliament from Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal.

About Article 76 (7)

Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal states, Prime Minister can dissolve the house of representatives and announce a new date to conduct election within six months when the Prime Minister appointed under Clause (5) fails to own vote of confidence or when no member can be appointed as Prime Minister.

Why Parliament was dissolved?

Bidhya Devi Bhandari dissolved the parliament after considering the claims of support by both the sides. KP Sharma Oli had claimed of having support of 153 lawmakers including members of Janata Samajbadi Party. On the other hand, Nepali Congress President Deuba claimed to have the support of 149 parliamentarians. Both the claims did not comply because, Nepal’s house of representatives is constituted of 275 members.

Political crisis in Nepal

The political crisis in Nepal started in May 2018 when KP Sharma Oli-led CPN-UML & National Communist Party got merged and decided to serve as joint chairmen of ruling party. CPN-UML was the largest party in House of Representatives but increasing disputes within the ruling part resulted in split again.  Following the split, in December 2020, Prachanda-led party expelled Prime Minister Oli as co-Chair and Prachanda was made the first Chairman. After that, house of representatives was dissolved in 2020 which was reinstated again following the order of supreme court in 2021. But, recently on May 10, Prime Minister Oli has lost the vote of confidence and the house stands dissolved.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2021