WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXVIII No. 300 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 24.5 C -4.3 C Monday, December 28, 2020 | 13-09-2077 Bhairahawa Jumla Chinese team gets The KP Sharma Oli down to business as it arrives caretaker government The delegation led by Guo question Yezhou, a vice-minister of Communist Party of China, As Oli ceases to be a member of the House of holds talks with President Representatives, which he dissolved, he can only be and prime minister. a caretaker prime minister, experts say. But he ANIL GIRI did not resign despite calling snap polls. KATHMANDU, DEC 27 TIKA R PRADHAN scribed by Article 77 (1), one is when A Chinese delegation that made a hur- KATHMANDU, DEC 27 the prime minister ceases to be a ried dash for Nepal after the Nepal member of the House of the Communist Party split last week wast- Amid the wide-ranging constitutional Representatives. ed no time and got down to business as debates after Prime Minister KP “Article 77 (1) (c) clearly states soon as it arrived in Kathmandu on Sharma Oli’s decision to dissolve the that the office of the prime minister Sunday afternoon. House of the Representatives, one will be vacant if he or she ceases to be The four-member delegation led by point that has yet to be extensively a member of the House of Guo Yezhou, vice-minister of the discussed is the status of Oli and his Representatives,” Gyawali told the International Department of the government. Post. “The moment the letter from the Communist Party of China, held talks If Oli is governing and taking deci- Office of the President about approv- with President Bidya Devi Bhandari sions with the authority arising from ing Oli’s House dissolution recom- and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on the confidence of the House, then he mendation reached the Parliament Sunday evening. himself has dissolved that entity, and Secretariat, Oli ceased to be a member The Chinese team is in Kathmandu if he is just a caretaker prime minis- of the lower house.” to, it is believed, assess the situation ter, then there has been no declaration Article 77 (3) says if the office of in Nepal that has arisen after Prime to that effect. Nor did he resign after prime minister falls vacant, the same Minister KP Sharma Oli dissolved the dissolving the House to be appointed Council of Ministers shall continue to House of Representatives on as a caretaker prime minister. act until another Council of Ministers December 20. Lawyers and experts on constitu- is constituted. Bhesh Raj Adhikari, a personal aide tional affairs say there is no doubt “As per Article 77(3), Oli has to the President, confirmed the meet- that the moment Oli dissolved the automatically become a caretaker ing between President Bhandari and House, he reduced himself to a care- prime minister,” said Gyawali. “The the visiting Chinese delegation. POST PHOTO: KESHAV THAPA taker prime minister. power of the prime minister comes The Office of the President, Janata Samajbadi Party supporters protest in Kathmandu on Sunday against Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s move to dissolve the House of “As soon as he dissolved the House from the people–the representatives however, refused to divulge Representatives. The rally passed through Putalisadak, Bhadrakali and Sundhara before ending at Shantivatika, Ratnapark, where it had started. of Representatives, the government elected by them who sit in the hal- details, including who participated turned into a caretaker one,” said lowed chambers of the House. If Oli from the Nepali side and what tran- Bipin Adhikari, former dean of thinks he has got power from some- spired during the about an hour-long Kathmandu University School of Law. where else, we need to ask the source meeting. Even though there have been prece- of his power.” “I cannot share more on the meet- dents of prime ministers dissolving Oli’s House dissolution recommen- ing,” Adhikari told the Post. Ordinance and constitutional body After meeting with President Bhandari, the Chinese delegation had Article 77 (1) (c) says that reached Baluwatar at around 7:30pm, the office of the prime according to a senior police official. recommendations challenged in court Finance Minister and party general minister will be vacant if secretary Bishnu Poudel was also in he or she ceases to be a the meeting between Oli and the visit- Writ petitioners argue that the ordinance over functioning of Constitutional Council was member of the House of ing Chinese delegation. Representatives. Sources said the delegation held ‘unconstitutional’ while defenders say there was no choice but to amend the law. talks with Oli for over two hours. Article 77 (3) says if the Foreign Ministry officials, however, PRITHVI MAN SHRESTHA tional provision and the existing law, I of deputy Speaker in the dissolved office of prime minister failed to shed light on the meetings KATHMANDU, DEC 27 registered the writ at the Supreme House of Representatives had been saying that ministry representatives Court,” said advocate Om Praskash vacant since Shiva Maya falls vacant, the same were not present in either of the meet- With the writ petitions against the Aryal, who petitioned against the Tumbahangphe resigned on January Council of Ministers shall ings. dissolution of the House of ordinance and the decision. 20 as deputy Speaker. continue to act until It was not immediately known what Representatives getting priority in the On December 15, President Bidya This amendment effectively allowed another Council of transpired between Oli and the Supreme Court, two writ petitions Devi Bhandari issued an ordinance to just three members of the council to Ministers is constituted. Chinese delegation. against the controversial ordinance amend the Constitutional Council recommend the names for constitu- The Post’s repeated attempts to on the working procedure of the (Functions, Duties, Power and tional appointments. reach Rajan Bhattarai, Oli’s foreign Constitutional Council, which recom- Procedure) Act-2010 such that, as per Based on the ordinance, the council relations adviser, went unanswered. mends candidates for appointment to the amendment the necessary quorum recommended 38 names for 45 vacan- the House, one startling difference dation and President Bidya Devi >> Continued on page 2 constitutional commissions, and for holding a meeting of the council cies in several constitutional bodies, between them and Oli is all of them Bhandari’s stamp to it have already against the recommendations would be a simple majority of the including the Commission for had tendered their resignations after been described by constitutional based on the ordinance, have existing members changing the earli- Investigation of Abuse of Authority, recommending such moves, but the experts as a move not allowed by the taken a back seat and are now er provision that five of the six mem- the same day the law was amended. current prime minister has not. constitution. scheduled to be heard on Friday, bers needed to be present including The names were sent to the Whether Oli, as a majority prime The Constitutional Bench of the January 1. the prime minister, the chair of the Parliamentary Secretariat for hearing minister, was allowed to dissolve the Supreme Court has already begun a In the writs filed on December council. on December 18, two days before the House is currently being tested by the hearing on as many as 13 writs filed 16 and December 21, the petition- The prime minister, the chief jus- lower house was dissolved. Supreme Court. against Oli’s move. ers have argued that since both tice, the Speaker of the House of Article 292 of the constitution Senior advocate Chandra Kanta In the past, prime ministers Girija the ordinance and the subse- Representatives, the chair of the provisions parliamentary hearing of Gyawali, who specialises on constitu- Prasad Koirala (1994), Manmohan quent decision of the constitu- National Assembly, the deputy the judges to be appointed by the judi- tional law, says the constitution has Adhikari, (1995), Surya Bahadur tional council based on it are Speaker of the House of cial council and those to be appointed clearly laid out on what conditions the Thapa (1998) and Sher Bahadur Deuba unconstitutional and illegal, Representatives and the leader of the to constitutional bodies by the office of the prime minister goes (2002) had also attempted to dissolve both must be scrapped. “As the main opposition in Parliament are the Constitutional Council. vacant and what happens in that situ- the House of Representatives. ordinance violated the constitu- members of the council. The position >> Continued on page 2 ation. Of the four conditions pre- >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020 | 02 NATIONAL Bhotekoshi residents demand complete opening of Tatopani border point The partial opening of the border point has hampered local businesses and the transportation sector. ANISH TIWARI But the Chinese authority closed the SINDHUPALCHOK, DEC 27 border point a few days later after three Nepali workers tested positive The local residents of Bhotekoshi, for Covid-19. local traders, transportation workers The authorities of Nepal and China and other concerned stakeholders on again reopened the Tatopani border Saturday took out a protest rally in point on October 28 by managing Liping Bazaar demanding authorities health security modality. An isolation to resume complete operation of the area has also been established in the Tatopani border point, a major cus- border area amid fear of Covid-19 out- toms point along the Nepal-China bor- break. der. According to Lal Bahadur Khatri, The concerned parties have been chief at Tatopani Dry Port and organising various rallies and mass Customs Office, before the pandemic, meetings urging authorities of both 50 containers used to enter Nepal the countries to fully operate the bor- through the border point on a daily der point.