Nepal: Preliminary hearing on writ petitions over lower house dissolution starts today
May 27, 2021
Kathmandu [Nepal], May 27 : Preliminary hearing on writ petitions filed in the apex court against the dissolution of Nepal's House of Representatives (HoR) is set to start from today.
The preliminary hearing for 19 of the first writ petitions is scheduled for Thursday has been assigned to a single bench of Chief Justice Cholendra JB Rana as per the notice from Supreme Court.
Hearing of another 11 writ petitions will start from tomorrow in the Constitutional Court. A total of 30 writ petitions were registered, of which 26 are in favour of reinstatement of the House.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the House and announced midterm elections for November 12 and November 19 at the recommendations of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
Following the government's move, the opposition parties and advocates filed writ petitions.
The petitioners have demanded the reinstatement of Parliament, the appointment of Sher Bahadur Deuba as the Prime Minister and scrapping the decision of the Cabinet to dissolve the House.
The Himalayan nation plunged into political turmoil after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli lost a vote of confidence in the Parliament early this month.
The political uncertainty comes at a time when the nation is facing a devastating surge of COVID-19 cases.
Last week, the country faced a fresh crisis after President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved Parliament following unsuccessful attempts to obtain a majority to form a new government by caretaker Prime Minister Oli and opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba.
President Bhandari fixed general elections for November but the country has been rocked by political protests.
