Nepal's Supreme Court reinstates dissolved House of Representatives

Kathmandu: Nepal's Supreme Court in a historic verdict on Tuesday reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives, in a setback to embattled Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli who was preparing for snap polls. A five-member constitutional bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher annulled the government's decision to dissolve the 275-member lower house of parliament, according to a notice issued by the apex court.

The court termed the dissolution of the House as "unconstitutional" and ordered the government to summon the House session within the next 13 days. Nepal plunged into a political crisis on December 20 after President Bidya Dev Bhandari dissolved the House of Representatives and announced fresh elections on April 30 and May 10 at the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli, amidst a tussle for power within the ruling party.

Oli's move to dissolve the House sparked protests from a large section of the Nepal Communist Party led by his rival Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', also a co-chair of the ruling party. As many as 13 writ petitions including the one by the ruling party's Chief Whip Dev Prasad Gurung were filed in the apex court seeking the restoration of the lower house parliament.

The Constitutional bench comprising Bishwombhar Prasad Shrestha, Anil Kumar Sinha, Sapana Malla and Tej Bahadur KC conducted a hearing on the case from January 17 to February 19. Oli repeatedly defended his move to dissolve the House, saying some leaders of his party were attempting to form a "parallel government".

In a letter to the Supreme Court last month defending his move to dissolve the House, Oli said that he was forced to take the step after his opponents in the ruling party made it difficult for him to work and accomplish various tasks. He said that he took the decision as he enjoyed the inherent power as the leader of a majoritarian government.

Last month, the Prachanda-led faction of the NCP expelled Prime Minister Oli from the general membership of the Nepal Communist Party for alleged anti-party activities. Earlier in December, the splinter group had removed 68-year-old Oli, one of the two chairmen of the ruling party, as the co-chair. Madhav Nepal was named as the party's second chairman. Prachanda is the first chairman of the party.

The Prachanda-led faction of the NCP and main opposition Nepali Congress had been opposing the dissolution of the House, saying it was unconstitutional and anti-democratic. The Prachanda-led faction had been holding protest rallies and public gatherings in various parts of the country.

Oli-led CPN-UML and Prachanda-led NCP (Maoist Centre) merged in May 2018 to form a unified Nepal Communist Party following the victory of their alliance in the 2017 general elections. After a vertical split in the ruling party following the dissolution of the House, both the factions, one led by Oli and another led by Prachanda, submitted separate applications at the Election Commission claiming that their faction is the genuine party and asked to provide them with the election symbol of the party.