APD | Nepali Prez dissolves Parliament, election announced for November

By APD writer Shristi Kafle

Nepal has dissolved the House of Representatives on the recommendation of cabinet led by Prime Minister KP Oli.

Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the parliament on Friday midnight and announced the mid-term elections on November 12 and 19.

The election dates are a year ahead of regular schedule.

Issuing a statement, the President’s Office said the President dissolved the House as per Article 76(7) of the Constitution on the recommendation of the cabinet.

The move comes at a time when the country is reeling under the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, which has already killed over 6,000 people.

Prime Minister Oli had called an emergency meeting of the cabinet at the PM’s official office at Friday midnight soon after the President’s Office issued a notice invalidating both the claims submitted to form a majority government.

Experts have expressed that the latest political development has plunged the Himalayan country into more political unstability.

Civil society and general public have also come forward to the social media criticizing the latest move at a time when the whole attention should have been towards fighting the pandemic.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)