There is no doubt about it – the constitution does not recognize either the current interim government or the dissolution of the House of Representatives. The constitution of Nepal, which was drafted through two elections and a long process by the Constituent Assembly, and which was further clarified by the Supreme Court twice in the past 10 years, neither contains a provision for the formation of an interim government, nor does it even contemplate the dissolution of the House of Representatives in circumstances other than Article 76(5).

However, both of these actions have been taken, and that too with national consensus. It has been a month since President Ram Chandra Poudel appointed Sushila Karki as the Prime Minister of the interim government, on the ‘recommendation and consent’ of the current Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and with the consent of the remaining parties. On the recommendation of the interim Prime Minister, the House of Representatives was dissolved immediately and new elections to the House of Representatives were scheduled for Falgun 21, 2082.

When we think about these actions today, with a cold mind, in the terrible situation where the country was burning after the unimaginable storm of Bhadra 23 and 24, we think that it would have been possible if only an interim government had been formed and the House of Representatives had not been dissolved, but it should be kept in mind that both of these actions were chosen as a less risky and less bad option in the circumstances in which they were taken, when no other means of controlling the situation had worked.

According to the discussions going on in various circles, the parties have accepted the choice of Sushila Karki because she has a democratic image, has led the Supreme Court, and is an acceptable personality compared to the worst options such as the leadership of a mysterious person or military rule or restoring the monarchy that was overthrown 17 years ago.

On the one hand, it was not possible to appoint a Prime Minister from outside the House of Representatives and run the government while maintaining the House of Representatives, and on the other hand, since the two-thirds government of the Congress-UML could not handle the situation, the agitating party was not ready to maintain the House of Representatives, where these two parties have a majority, as it was created.

The suggestion of the Nepali Army, which has been playing a decisive role during the crisis, may have been because it was not possible to control the situation by maintaining the House of Representatives. The step that President Ram Chandra Poudel has taken as an alternative that will save the constitution and be accepted by the agitators, should not be turned back, but should be moved forward and find a way out. Otherwise, it would be like deliberately inviting another crisis and there would be no compensation only after regretting it tomorrow. Turning the country towards the restoration of the House of Representatives will neither address today's discontent nor will it be able to carry the new reality. On the contrary, the risk of mainstream parties becoming more irrelevant and alienating the younger generation increases.

The Congress-UML government did not collapse due to a lack of a majority in parliament or a constitutional crisis. Nor did the House of Representatives itself die after going through the process. The current situation has come to this after KP Oli resigned from the post of Prime Minister, citing 'political solutions', after being unable to deal with the extraordinary political crisis that suddenly arose in the country.

The argument of appointing the Prime Minister from outside the House of Representatives but keeping the House of Representatives is both constitutionally and politically incompatible. Because, as long as the House of Representatives remains in existence, an alternative must be sought from within. After the failure of the two-thirds government formed by the House of Representatives, it cannot be assumed that there is any other political alternative within it. In addition, the House of Representatives has already exhausted all its experiments by forming four coalitions in a period of three years.

Immediately after the 2079 elections, the UML, Maoists, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), RPP, JSP, Janmat and Naupa formed a government under the leadership of Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Less than three months later, the UML was again expelled from the government and a coalition was formed with the Congress under Dahal's leadership. What a year it had taken, the old coalition with the UML was again formed under the leadership of Dahal, expelling the Congress.

In Asad 2081, the Congress-UML came together and expelled Dahal and formed a government under the leadership of KP Oli. That is, there was no other option left to be used within the parliament. Moreover, after the Congress-UML government suffered a boomerang, no other parties except these two parties could form a government together. In this situation, the argument that the political crisis would have been resolved if the House of Representatives had remained intact does not hold water.

Even though it is in a damaged state, the constitution has survived, the institution of the presidency exists. A civilian government has been formed with the consent of the parties. People who are not directly affiliated with the party are in the government. Upon receiving the appointment letter from the President, Sushila Karki has accepted the condition of ‘holding the next election of the House of Representatives within 6 months’. That is, Sushila Karki’s appointment as Prime Minister is for 6 months, that appointment is for an election, and that election is for the House of Representatives.

Apart from this, the interim government does not have the mandate to think left and right, interfere in other matters, and complicate the situation. This means that if Sushila Karki’s government is unable to hold the next election of the House of Representatives within 6 months, then just as there is no provision in any article of the Constitution for a non-MP Prime Minister, the President has appointed her ‘in accordance with the constitutional restrictive provision entrusted to the President by the Constitution’, similarly, there is no obstacle in dismissing her on the day of completion of 6 months by mentioning the same provision.

Therefore, the government’s main focus should be on holding dialogue with the major parties, controlling the extremists who have emerged in the name of Gen-G, creating a fearless environment, and preparing for the election. Without creating an environment for elections and without dialogue and cooperation with major parties like the Congress-UML, elections are not even remotely possible. Today, if someone imagines that Gyanendra Shah held local body elections in 2061 BS, waking up from his sleep on time would be beneficial for his health.

Putting forward the demand for the restoration of the dissolved House of Representatives, even though the constitution and system are in a damaged state, will help the morale of those who do not like it to survive. Because, those who are busy conceiving a new Zelensky with the slogan of a directly elected Prime Minister are not satisfied with the current interim system and the announcement of holding elections to the House of Representatives within 6 months. If the election is held on the scheduled date, i.e. on Falgun 21, the slogan of the so-called directly elected executive is certain to wither in the sun.

In the upcoming parliamentary elections, first of all, there will be competition between parties, and according to the existing mixed electoral system, it is not possible for any one party to win a majority. It is almost impossible for those who have not yet formed a party to form a party and an organizational structure in this short period of time. It is not as easy to create a stir overnight by deifying a person, but it is not so easy to have many people participate and have them elected by the common people.

In such a situation, let us assume that even if a newly formed imaginary party wins a majority in the House of Representatives, it is not possible to win a two-thirds majority. Furthermore, if more than two new parties together win two-thirds in the lower house, it is not possible to win a majority in the upper house without the Congress-UML. In such a situation, there is no scope for any party to amend the constitution as it wants or by keeping one person at the center.

Even so, the storm in the name of Gen-G has stopped. Even if the extremists who want to gain political benefits by showing Gen-G make provocative statements like ‘We will not let the old parties participate in the elections, we will imprison the leaders, we will not accept them if the results are not in our favor,’ the events that develop over the course of six months will leave them under the yoke of democracy.

If the elections are not held on time, the future of not only our democracy but also the country will be in a terrible state. Because, political parties have been marginalized, due to their own incompetence, they have fallen into a state where they cannot easily leave power at once and even on the streets. Along with the parties, the leadership has also grown old and the disease of seeing everyone below them as ‘children’ is rampant. It is difficult for the old leadership to realize that the field has been captured by someone else before the seven-year revolution in 2046 BS.

If the Nepali Army, which was looked upon with the same hope after the failure of the party, government, police, intelligence, and armed police, which were responsible for peace and security, had delayed the country by just one day on the night of the 24th, instead of taking control of it, the situation would have been even more terrible than we imagine today. Without taking this into account and without seriously analyzing the Nepali Army’s delay, if the major parties remain limited to slogans, we will have no choice but to wait for another tsunami.

Despite the fact that Nepali society is tolerant, the burning of government buildings, private homes and business establishments for no reason is a sign of a bigger crisis. It is a different matter if we are satisfied that ‘we did not have to flee the country like the Rajapaksa brothers from Sri Lanka and Sheikh Hasina from Bangladesh’, otherwise the major parties should be prepared for further journey with internal reforms and modifications and return democracy, which has reached the ‘leak’, to its natural path.