Both President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli have submitted their response to the country’s supreme court, defending the move to dissolve the country’s parliament. Over two dozen petitions were filled in the court, challenging the house dissolution.  

On 21 May, the country’s president on the recommendation of the prime minister had dissolved parliament. 

Calling the government formation a “political process”, Oli, in his reply, said the court can’t intervene in it, reported The Kathmandu Post. “The court has the authority to interpret the constitution, but it cannot play the role of the legislature or the executive,” he said. 

“Forming governments on the basis of parties’ claims is the fundamental characteristic of the parliamentary system. Our constitution does not imagine party-less practices. If we run Parliament and the government as demanded by the petitioners, this could revive a party-less system like the Panchayat,” he added. 

Similarly, the president argued, “Any action carried out by the president as per Article 76 of the constitution cannot become a subject of any petition and this cannot be an issue for a judicial review.” 

“While taking the decision, the President ascertained whether the prime minister to be appointed as per the Article 76(5) could get a vote of confidence or not. This can be done only by the president and that’s exactly what the President did,” she added. 

Furthermore, the president in her response also said the court can’t take any action on a decision taken by the president. 

However, experts argued that Sher Bahadur Deuba, the leader of the opposition, had submitted a support letter containing the signatures of 149 members. So the decision to dissolve the house was constitutionally wrong. 

(SAM)