The statement of the then Constituent Assembly (CA) chairman Subash Chandra Nembang that the prime minister (PM) cannot dissolve the House of Representatives (HoR) has reached the constitutional bench of Supreme Court (SC) hearing the writ petitions filed against House dissolution by President Bidya Devi Bhandari on recommendation of the Cabinet.
Advocate Dinmani Pokharel arguing on behalf of the petitioners on Monday read out extracts of the interview given by the then CA chair to a magazine published by the Parliament Secretariat where Nembang, who is now deputy parliamentary party leader of CPN and PM KP Sharma Oli's confidant, stressed that the current parliamentary system is different from that in the past and the PM cannot dissolve the House as per the new Constitution.
"What he spoke on the occasion will have to be taken as evidence," Pokharel said. "That was not Nembang an individual talking but the CA chair." He stressed that what Nembang said then represents the intention of the CA while promulgating the Constitution.
Nembang had also reiterated that the PM cannot dissolve the House as per the new Constitution while training journalists covering parliamentary affairs at a program organized by the Federal Parliament Secretariat and the UNDP at Dhulikhel on July 20, 2019.
He had pointed that the new Constitution cleansed the parliamentary system in Nepal that was sullied in the past. Nembang, however, has made an about turn now and recently argued ludicrously that he had made the statement then but the situation is different now.
