Parties in Nepal jointly oppose dissolution of parliament

KATHMANDU: A day after the appointment of former chief justice of Nepal Sushila Karki as new PM of the Himalayan nation's interim govt, most major political parties on Saturday came out to oppose the move, terming it "unconstitutional". Many of their leaders also questioned the Gen Z-led protests, which triggered the fall of the KP Sharma Oli govt, and claimed it was "scripted to overthrow an elected govt".

Showing overnight unity on the issue, the eight key -- and disparate -- political parties of the country issued a joint statement in the evening, demanding that the "interim govt immediately revoke its decision of dissolving Parliament". The statement was released by the chief whips of Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist), Janata Samajbadi Party, Janamat Party and others.


Their opposition came after President Ramchandra Paudel’s office earlier released a statement on dissolution of Parliament, following it up with an announcement on the date of fresh election -- March 5, 2026. He said he took the decision on the "recommendation of the newly appointed PM".

Claiming that the new set of developments could herald a constitutional crisis in the coming days, Pradip Gyawali, deputy general secretary of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) and former minister of foreign affairs told TOI that "it all is completely against the existing constitutional framework".

Gyawali added: “Our constitution prohibits a non-parliamentarian (Karki in this case) from becoming the country’s prime minister, which has now happened. Apart from this, it is also against the supreme court’s verdict which had come in March 2021 and June 2021, stating that Parliament can be dissolved only after first trying out the four acceptable ways to make a govt. None of this happened here; none of the methods were applied before dissolving parliament."

He further raised apprehensions on holding elections within six 6 months. “I suspect Nepal will go the Bangladesh way, where elections are yet to be held after last year’s movement.”

Chairperson of Nepal’s Rashtriya Janamorcha party and former deputy PM Chitra Bahadur KC added that formation of the interim govt "basically is aimed at defeating the constitution, which we completely oppose".

He said, "The only way to solve the crisis is to see a democratically elected govt installed after immediately conducting free and fair elections.”

Another senior leader from Nepali Congress told TOI that “the Gen Z-led agitation had more to it than just being a voice against corruption. It seemed to be scripted to overthrow an elected govt.”

The Nepali Congress leader went on: “Initially, the issues raised by them (Gen Z) including graft and joblessness seemed valid. But soon, too many dramatic events happened within a very short span of time, which was beyond our understanding. The protest was hijacked by people with vested interests. The decision to form an interim govt after dissolving parliament is likely to soon be challenged before the supreme court. Nepal Bar Association has already said that they will seek clarity on it as per provisions of our constitution.”

This came even as Paudel on Saturday evening appealed to all sides to "support the process of holding parliamentary elections as scheduled on March 5, 2026."

A statement from the president's office said: “After exemplary efforts during a very difficult and complex situation in the country, the peaceful resolution to hold the next elections was found while preserving the constitution and keeping the federal democratic republic intact. Hence, I sincerely appeal to all sides to make good use of this hard-earned opportunity and cooperate..."