Nepal PM Oli faces fresh woes after leaked paper makes big revelation on House dissolution

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had not mentioned any constitutional clauses while recommending dissolution of the lower house to President Bidya Devi Bhandari, showed a leaked paper from the Supreme Court of Nepal on Friday. Supreme Court received the leaked letter from Oli's Office, after the judicial order in December, last year, which showed  PM Oli not mentioning any constitutional and legal provisions while recommending lower house dissolution.

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The leaked paper stated, "There is a necessity of two-third majority Government. According to basic essence and values of Nepal's Constitution and Parliamentary system and practice of our own and various countries with a parliamentary system, it is to be recommended to President to dissolve House of Representatives of incumbent Federal Assembly and head for polls on April 30 for the first phase and May 10 for the second phase."

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The four-page document which is the only evidence of the recommendation sent to the President's office does not mention any constitutional basis or clauses on the basis of which PM Oli dissolved the parliament.

During the full bench discussion over the petition filed against Oli's move to dissolve the parliament, a copy of the letter of recommendation to the President was presented as a piece of evidence. Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana on Friday confessed that original copy of the submitted document has been withdrawn by PM Office leaving only a copy of it.

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Nepal's Foreign Minister visits India 

Meanwhile, Nepal's Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, who is on a three-day visit to India, met External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar at Hyderabad House in Delhi on Friday.

Nepal plunged into a political crisis on December 20 after President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved Parliament on the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli and announced the mid-term general election in April-May, a decision termed unconstitutional, impulsive and autocratic by the Opposition and dissidents in the ruling Nepal Communist Party. Oli had earlier claimed that efforts were being made to oust him after his government redrew the country's political map by incorporating three strategically key Indian territories.

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(With ANI Inputs)