The two parties in the then coalition had signed a joint writ petition demanding the restoration of the House of Representatives with the support of the majority of MPs from the dissolved parliament. However, since the two parties did not reach a majority even when combined, preparations are being made to file separate writ petitions signed by only the then Chief Whip and the Whip.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
The Congress and the UML are set to file separate writ petitions for the restoration of the House of Representatives after failing to secure a majority of MPs from the dissolved parliament. The two parties, which were in the then coalition, had signed a joint writ petition demanding the restoration of the House of Representatives with the support of a majority of MPs from the dissolved parliament. However, since the two parties combined would not achieve a majority, preparations are being made to file separate writ petitions.
Now, preparations are underway to file separate writ petitions with the signatures of only the then Chief Whips and Whips of both parties. There were 78 UML MPs in the dissolved Parliament, including the Speaker. Of these, 75 had already been signed, leaving one Speaker and two suspended. However, since the Congress was more inclined to go for elections than to restore the House of Representatives, not all of them could sign.
According to the party's then Chief Whip Shyam Kumar Ghimire, only 45 Congress MPs had signed. However, he said that not all of them could sign as some were outside the capital and some were abroad. 'We can collect the signatures of the majority of MPs when the court wants,' he said.
UML had already made an institutional decision to file a writ petition against the dissolution of the House of Representatives. The meeting of the dissolved party held on Mangsir 2 had decided to file a writ petition against the dissolution of the House of Representatives and delegate the authority for that to the then Chief Whip and Whip. However, the Congress has not made the restoration of the House of Representatives an institutional agenda.
Even though the party's decision will go to the election, the lawmakers have signed it at the individual level. The Congress Central Working Committee's meeting on Saturday had remained silent on the restoration of the House of Representatives and the signatures of the lawmakers, stating that the solution to the current crisis is the election. The Congress Central Working Committee's Zoom meeting held immediately after the Gen-G movement had declared the dissolution of the House of Representatives unconstitutional.
Although the decision was approved by the Central Working Committee meeting on Saturday, it has concluded that the constitution, which has gone off track, can only be brought back to the league through elections. Since the issue of the restoration of the House of Representatives has become a matter of constitutional review, the Congress has not made any further decisions on it and has prioritized the elections only. However, the Congress has not stopped the issue of filing a writ for restoration at the individual level.
The Congress has started signing the MPs after the informal dialogue between UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba. According to a leader of the establishment party, the signing was done based on mutual dialogue between the two leaders while Deuba was in Singapore for health treatment. However, after all the then Congress MPs refused to sign, preparations are being made to file the writ with the signatures of the Chief Whip and the Whip.
138 members are required to achieve a majority. With 45 from the Congress and 75 from the UML, only 120 MPs are enough. ‘Lawyers are preparing the writ, we have the homework to get the writ within a day or two,’ said Ghimire, the then Chief Whip of the Congress parliamentary party, ‘The Genji Movement did not reject the MPs. If it was rejected, then none of the MPs in the then parliament could contest the election in the coming elections. Otherwise, the solution will be to amend the constitution through all-party discussions to address the demands raised by Gen-G, form a national government with the participation of political parties and go for elections. Otherwise, it is our understanding that the next parliament will not be able to provide stability.'
UML's then chief whip Mahesh Bartoula said that UML has decided to go for a writ institutionally. UML has made the restoration of the House of Representatives an issue, calling the dissolution of parliament unconstitutional and undemocratic. It has put the issue of going for elections as a second priority.
'The party took a political decision to go for restoration.' However, we made the decision in a meeting of the legally dissolved parliamentary party. The party meeting also decided to give the chief whip and whips the necessary authority for the purpose of registering a writ,' Bartoula said. 'Based on that, the preparation of the writ has reached the final stage.' We will file a writ within a day or two.'
Even though the then Chief Whip Ghimire introduced the issue of restoration of the House of Representatives in the Congress, there was no discussion on it. At an informal level, Congress President Deuba has said that the issue of restoration can also be taken up as an option, leaving the lawmakers free to move forward.
However, most of the other party leaders, including General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma, are not in favor of restoration. Some lawmakers close to leader Shekhar Koirala have signed. 'The signal has come from the leadership to consider the issue of restoration as the sovereign right of the lawmakers and leave it free,' said a party official. 'On that basis, they are trying to sign and file a writ.'
