PM has right to dissolve House in parliamentary system, argues govt attorney

KATHMANDU: Public prosecutors have argued that the constitution has not paved the way for the appointment of another prime minister until Prime Minister KP Oli voluntarily resigns.

Defending the move by the Prime Minister to dissolve the House of Representatives before Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court, Deputy Attorney General Uddhav Pudasaini claimed that the constitution does not envisage another prime minister in the current situation.

Stating that the prime minister is the leader of the parliament, executive, and nation under the current system, Pudasaini said that the prime minister has the right to make decisions in the parliamentary system.

He claimed that the President could not dissolve the parliament in the United States due to the presidential system, but the Prime Minister has the right to dissolve the parliament in Nepal even if it was not written in the constitution.

“The US President has no right to dissolve parliament. But in Nepal, the prime minister has that right because of the parliamentary system,” he said.

Altogether 13 writ petitions were filed against the dissolution of HoR in the Supreme Court. The HoR was dissolved by President Bidya Devi Bhandari on December 20, 2020, on the recommendation of PM Oli.

A Constitutional Bench headed by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana is hearing the writs.