Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli recommends dissolution of Parliament amid inter-party power tussle

File image of Nepal's Prime Minister Khadga Prashad Sharma Oli, also known as KP Oli (center), speaking to reporters in 2015. (Image: Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar)

Nepal's Prime Minister Khadga Prashad Sharma Oli on December 20 recommended dissolution of Parliament, amid a political tussle between him and former PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda.

The Cabinet, in an emergency meeting chaired by PM Oli, decided to recommend President Bidya Devi Bhandari for the dissolution of Parliament's House of Representatives. PM Oli reportedly reached the President’s residence with the Cabinet decision.

Nepal’s Lower House, last elected in 2017, has 275 members. The development comes amid an intra-party battle in the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) between factions led by Oli and Prachanda, who is the executive chair of the party.

According to news agency PTI, senior leader of the ruling NCP and former PM Madhav Kumar Nepal has termed the move as unconstitutional. The Madhav Nepal and Prachanda faction has been urging Oli to step down as the prime minister amid mounting accusations and counter-accusations between the two factions.

In June, Oli, 68, had claimed that efforts were being made to oust him after his government redrew the country's map by incorporating three strategically key Indian territories.

PTI also cited some constitutional experts as terming the move to dissolve Parliament as unconstitutional. There is no provision in Nepal's Constitution for the prime minister oof a majoriy government to seek dissolution of Parliament, they said.

“As long as there is a possibility of forming a government from Parliament, there is no provision to dissolve the House,” PTI quoted constitutional expert Dinesh Tripathi as saying.

The main opposition party, the Nepali Congress (NC), also called an emergency meeting as the Rastriya Janata Party decided to ask the President for summoning a Special Session of Parliament.

The country, situated in the Himalayas, is no stranger to political instability. Since 2008, when Nepal became a Federal Democratic Republic, it has seen 11 different Cabinets led by nine prime ministers.

In 2015, Oli became the prime minister of Nepal for this first time largely riding on the wave of nationalism he created by opposing the border blockade that year and signing a trade and transit treaty with China. The treaty was seen as reducing landlocked Nepal’s dependency on India for connectivity.

It was only in late 2017 that Oli and Dahal forged an electoral alliance in the lead-up to the election. They secured a majority and formed the government headed by Oli in February 2018. Months later, Dahal’s CPN (Maoist Centre) and Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) announced a formal merger to form the NCP. With the unification process still incomplete, the two factions remain at odd.