‘Oli may dissolve parliament before May 29 and go for snap polls’

KATHMANDU, May 14: Key leaders of Nepali Congress (NC), CPN (Maoist Center) and Janata Samajbadi Party (Upendra faction) have held a meeting at NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba's Budhanilkantha-based residence on Friday morning to review the latest political situation. 

The meeting  also decided to continue the three-party cooperation, analyzing that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli may again dissolve parliament.

It is to be noted that Prime Minister Oli had dissolved the House of Representatives (HoR) on December 20 last year. However, the Supreme Court on February 23  restored the lower house of parliament citing Oli’s move as unconstitutional. 

NC President Deuba, Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and JSP Chairman Upendra Yadav were present in the meeting.

Sharing the analysis made by the Budhanilkantha meeting, a leader told Ratopati that PM Oli may not wait till June 12 to get a vote of confidence. “Preparations are underway to convene a parliamentary session in the third week of May and will seek a vote of confidence,” he said, adding that Oli will dissolve parliament without following the procedures stated in Article 76 (5) of the constitution. “He will even issue an annual budget through ordinance,” he added. 

Opposition leaders concluded that Oli will go for snap polls at any cost. The source said, "He [Oli] is not willing to win trust vote, therefore Oli has a strategy of keeping Mahanta Thakur neutral and preventing anyone from garnering a majority in parliament."

Leaders also reached a conclusion that ‘external factors’ also foiled the opposition alliance’s efforts to muster majority. “At the same time,  UML’s Madhav Nepal faction also betrayed us,” the leaders said. However, the leaders agreed to continue dialogues with Madhav Nepal and Mahanta Thakur. 

The meeting also decided to exert pressure on the government to expedite its efforts to combat the second wave of the coronavirus..