Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolves Parliament

Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari has dissolved Parliament and fixed general elections in November amid a worsening COVID-19 outbreak.

 

A presidential statement said neither the caretaker Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, nor opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba were able to demonstrate a majority to form a new government by the Friday deadline set by Bhandari.

 

The presidential statement issued last night said that the President has dissolved the House of Representatives and



ordered the first phase of general elections on November 12 and the second phase on November 19.

 

It said the decision was made on the recommendation of the cabinet headed by caretaker Prime Minister Oli, whose December 2020 dissolution of parliament sparked weeks of protests and was reversed by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional in February.

 

There was no immediate comment from political parties about the latest move.