Nepal’s Supreme Court re-establishes dissolved House of Representatives

 Nepal was facing a political crisis after President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the House of Representatives and announced fresh elections in the country at the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli. 

The Supreme Court of Nepal in a historic decision on February 23, 2021, reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives. The verdict is a major setback for the embattled Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli who was preparing for the snap polls.

According to a notice issued by the apex court, a constitutional bench of 5-members led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher reversed the government’s decision of dissolving the 275-member lower house of Parliament.

The Constitutional bench comprising Anil Kumar Sinha, Bishwombhar Prasad Shrestha, Tej Bahadur KC, and Sapana Malla had conducted the hearing on the case from February 17 to February 19.

The Supreme Court further termed the dissolution of the House of Representatives as ‘Unconstitutional’ and also ordered the government to summon the House session within the next 13 days.

Increasing rivalry within the ruling party of Nepal:

After a split in the ruling party, following the dissolution of the House, both the factions, one led by Prachanda and another by Oli had submitted separate applications at the election commission. Both claimed that their faction is the genuine party and also asked to provide them the election symbol of the party.

In December 2020, the Prachanda-led faction of the Nepal Communist Party had removed Prime Minister Oli, one of the two Chairman of the ruling party, as the co-chair. Madhav Nepal was named as the second chairman of the Party and Prachanda as first.

In January 2021, indicating the increased difference within the ruling party, Oli was also removed from the general membership of NCP- Nepal Communist Party for the alleged anti-party activities.

Protest from Prachanda led faction against the dissolution:

PM Oli’s decision of dissolving the Parliament had sparked protests from a large section of the Nepal Communist Party led by Oli’s rival Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, who is also a co-chair of the ruling party.

As many as 13 writ petitions were filed in the apex court for the restoration of the lower house of Parliament.

The Prachanda-led faction as well as the main opposition Nepali Congress was opposing Oli’s decision, saying it was anti-democratic and unconstitutional. They were also holding public gatherings and protest rallies in various parts of the country.

Background:

In May 2018, Prachanda-led National Communist Party (Maoist Centre) and Oli-led CPN-UML have merged to form a unified Nepal Communist Party after the victory of their alliance in the General Elections of 2017.