Nepal’s President dissolves Parliament, declares mid-term polls

Nepal’s President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Sunday dissolved Parliament at the recommendation of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and announced new dates for mid-term general election in April-May.

President Bhandari has announced April 30 for the first phase and May 10 for the second phase of the mid-term election, according to a notice issued by Rastrapati Bhawan.

She dissolved Parliament as per Article 76, clause 1 and 7, and Article 85 of the Constitution of Nepal, according to the notice.

Earlier, an emergency Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Oli decided to recommend the President for the dissolution of Parliament’s House of Representatives.

The 275-member House of Representatives, which is the lower house of Parliament, was elected in 2017. The upper house is National Assembly.

The move comes as the intra-party feud reached climax in the ruling NCP which has been witnessing months long tussle between two factions, one led by 68-year-old Oli and Party’s chairman and another led by 66-year-old “Prachanda”, also the executive chair of the party and former premier.