The second dissolution of the House of Representatives, Nepal into a political, epidemic "double crisis"

Source: Global Times

Nepalese President Bhandari accepted Prime Minister Ollie's proposal in the early morning of the 22nd, announced the dissolution of the Parliamentary House of Representatives and held parliamentary elections on November 12 and 19 this year. This is the second time in 5 months that the House of Representatives has been dissolved in Nepal. The opposition sees the president's decision as unconstitutional, will exacerbate political unrest in the country and could further exacerbate the country's unfolding outbreak.

The Office of the President of Nepal issued a statement on the 22nd that Bandari made the above decision in accordance with the Constitution. Due to the duplication of lists of parliamentarians who supported the formation of a new government by Ollie and Nepali Congress President Deupa, both their requests for a new government were invalid.

This is the second time in six months that the Nepalese House of Representatives has been dissolved. In December, Bandari also dissolved the House of Representatives at Ollie's suggestion and announced that new House elections would be held in stages on April 30 and May 10 this year. However, on February 23, 2021, Nepal's Supreme Court ruled that the presidential decree to dissolve the House of Representatives was invalid, and the House was restored. The New York Times said the Supreme Court ruling also forced Ollie to face a May 10 vote of no confidence, which ollie failed to win.

Because other political parties could not form a new government as scheduled, Ollie was reappointed as prime minister on the 13th and sworn in on the 14th. Under Nepal's constitution, Ollie must win a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives within 30 days of taking office, or the House of Representatives will be dissolved and elections held early. Bandari accepted Ollie's suggestion on the 20th, saying that the current political situation cannot provide space for the current government to win a vote of confidence, and asked other parties to form a new government before 5 p.m. local time on the 21st. Ollie and Deupa both made a request for a cabinet on the 21st, and both said they had the support of the majority of the members of the House of Representatives.

Ollie believes the new elections could put an end to nepal's political turmoil in recent months. He said on the 21st that despite the epidemic, Nepal still has conditions to hold elections. The epidemic in Nepal has been worsening since April this year. On April 1, the number of new confirmed cases in a single day was 152, while the current average number of new confirmed cases in a single day reached about 8,000, with a cumulative confirmed case of about 500,000 cases and a cumulative death of more than 6,000 cases.

Some opposition figures fear that elections and political activities in the context of an intensification of the epidemic may repeat india's mistakes and make the epidemic worse. According to Reuters, 5 opposition leaders in Nepal issued a joint statement on the 22nd, saying that the president's decision to dissolve the House of Representatives was unconstitutional, and they would fight politically and legally against it.