Nepal’s Supreme Court reinstates dissolved House of Representatives

Kathmandu: Nepal’s Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives, in a setback to embattled Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli who was preparing for snap polls.

A five-member constitutional bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR annulled the government’s decision to dissolve the 275-member lower house of parliament 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 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.

Oli repeatedly defended his move to dissolve the House of Representatives, saying some leaders of his party were attempting to form a ”parallel government.”

As many as 13 writ petitions including the one by the ruling Nepal Communist Party’s Chief Whip Dev Prasad Gurung were filed at the apex court seeking the restoration of the lower house parliament.