Petitioners challenge Nepal parliament dissolution in Supreme Court News
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Petitioners challenge Nepal parliament dissolution in Supreme Court

Three petitions challenging the Sunday dissolution of Nepal’s Federal Parliament have been filed in the Supreme Court of Nepal, the highest court in the country.

The petitions challenge Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s request to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to dissolve Parliament. Bhandari granted the request and scheduled a new, brought-forward election to take place in April and May 2021. According to Reuters, Bhadrakali Pokharel, a spokesperson for the Supreme Court of Nepal said that the petitions are “in the process of being registered”.

Under the country’s constitution, the President can dissolve the House of Representatives and schedule a new election on limited grounds. The only explicit provision, 76(5), provides for dissolution if the Prime Minister loses a vote of confidence or if a member of the House of Representatives cannot be appointed as the Prime Minister.

The legal challenge comes in the wake of long-standing political instability in the country. Within the past three decades, the country has seen a new Prime Minister appointed 26 times. The current government has been subject to significant criticism from the public. The Diplomat reported that earlier this year, “groups of middle-class youth took to the streets in Kathmandu and other cities to protest perceived government apathy, incompetence, and corruption.”

Criticism of the country’s government has also been expressed within Parliament. Following Sunday’s dissolution, seven cabinet ministers resigned and commented in a statement that the dissolution is “against the people’s mandate and political principals”. Surya Thapa, Oli’s press adviser explained that “the PM thought the way out of instability would be to go before the public again.”

Provided that the petitions are registered, the Supreme Court is expected to decide on the legality of the dissolution of Parliament within the next two weeks.

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