Signature campaign underway at Singha Durbar as opposition alliance prepares to file case against HoR dissolution

Published On: May 23, 2021 02:53 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, May 23: Lawmakers of the recently-dissolved House of Representatives (HoR), who were elected from the Nepali Congress (NC), Maoist Center, CPN-UML’s Nepal faction, Janata Samajbadi Party’s Yadav faction and Rastirya Janmorcha, are busy collecting their signatures as the opposition alliance is preparing to knock the Supreme Court (SC)’s door against President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s move to dissolve parliament.

According to a Congress leader, Minendra Rijal, the parties are discussing possible strategies and collecting signatures of the ex-lawmakers at the Singha Durbar-based parliamentary party office of the NC, ahead of the registration of a writ petition.

President Bhandari, at the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, dissolved the 275-member HoR as per Article 76 (7) of the constitution on Saturday morning.

Earlier, the opposition alliance’s Sher Bahadur Deuba laid his claim to form a government as per Article 76 (5) on Friday. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who had lost a trust vote on May 10 and announced not to take a vote of confidence as per Article 76 (4), also staked his claim for the government. While Deuba said he had the support of 149 MPs, Oli claimed to have the support of 153 MPs. The president, however, rejected both the claims.

The opposition alliance, on Saturday, announced political and legal fights against the ‘unconstitutional, undemocratic and regressive act staged by the president and prime minister’.