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NEFPORT ISSUE 46 – SEPTEMBER 2021
POLITICAL OVERVIEW POLITICAL OVERVIEW The political landscape of Nepal saw a significant turn of events in the last quarter. In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court reinstated the House of Representatives (HoR), overturning KP Sharma Oli’s decision to dissolve the house for a second time. Consequently, Deuba was appointed as the prime minister for the fifth time in his political career, with the support of the opposition alliance, and he even won the vote of confidence in the first meeting of the reinstated parliament. However, over a month after his appointment, Deuba still has not been able to expand his cabinet. Furthermore, the Deuba government failed to give the parliament any business and instead prorogued the house session while amending the political party act through an ordinance. EXECUTIVE UPDATES
Ordinance 2020 was also scrapped.2
Supreme Court reinstated House of Representative: On July 12, 2021,
NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba appointed as the Prime Minister:
the Supreme Court overturned Prime Minister Oli’s decision to dissolve the House of Representatives (HoR) and ordered President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to appoint Nepali Congress (NC) President Deuba as the new prime minister as per Article 76 (5) of the constitution. The five-member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court also ordered the president to summon the parliament session by July 18, 2021. Furthermore, the court also ruled that the House Speaker could convene house sessions or meetings on their initiation.1 The first session of the restored parliament witnessed the tabling of 15 ordinances. Among the ordinances tabled, the Deuba-led government also tabled the budget ordinance introduced by the Oli-led government citing the need for endorsement of the budget by parliament. Likewise, the controversial Constitutional Council
On July 13, NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba was appointed as the prime minister of Nepal. The newly appointed prime minister formed a five-member cabinet on the same day, who took the oath of office and secrecy amid a function held in the president’s office. Bal Krishna Khand, NC chief whip has been appointed as the minister of Home Affairs, while Gyanendra Bahadur Karki has gotten the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. Similarly, Janardan Sharma from the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN)-Maoist Centre has been appointed the minister of Finance and Pampha Bhusal has been appointed as the minister for Energy.3 Prime Minister Deuba decided to test the floor in the first meeting of the reinstated parliament on July 18, 2021 and secured a majority of votes with the support of the ruling alliance comprising of the NC, CPN-Maoist
Centre, Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), Rastra Janamorcha Party as well as the Madhav Nepal faction of the CPNUnited Marxist Leninist (UML). Common Minimum program unveiled: The Common Minimum
Program (CMP), incorporating the priorities of the incumbent government led by Deuba was unveiled by the ruling alliance on August 8, 2021. A seven-member task force comprising of three members from the NC and two each from the CPNMaoist Centre and JSP was formed to prepare the CMP. The prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic and administration of vaccines to all the citizens have been mentioned as the major priorities of the government in the CMP. The government also aims to take all the necessary steps towards strengthening federalism, promoting national interest and sovereignty, and strengthening the government’s diplomatic positions. Similarly, increasing economic prosperity, maintaining rule of law,
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