WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXIX No. 127 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 34.8 C 12.5 C Friday, June 25, 2021 | 11-03-2078 Simara Jomsom Article 76 (5) is meant for individual lawmakers—not parties, lawyers tell bench On the second day of hearing on House dissolution, advocates attempt to interpret the provision’s legislative intent and how it has been breached. TIKA R PRADHAN the constitution],” said senior advo- KATHMANDU, JUNE 24 cate Raman Kumar Shrestha while pleading on behalf of the petitioners. On Thursday, the second day of hear- “This Article 76 (5) was envisioned to ing on the dissolution of the House of explore one more possibility to form a Representatives, the focus was on government by an individual lawmak- Article 76 (5), its interpretation and er after the parties fail. The only the legislative intent behind incorpo- intent was to make maximum efforts rating the provision. to save Parliament.” Almost all the lawyers arguing on Article 76 (5) comes into play when behalf of the plaintiffs were of the all other provisions—Articles 76 (1), view that Article 76 (5) was incorpo- (2) and (3) are exhausted, allowing an rated in the constitution with a view individual lawmaker to give one last to giving as long a life as possible to try to form a government so as to save the House, given the past experiences the House from untimely dissolution. of frequent dissolutions whenever the Article 76 (1) is about the leader of a prime minister wanted. party with majority in the House lead- Article 76 (5) states that in cases ing the government, while Article 76 where the prime minister appointed (2) calls for formation of a govern- under clause (3) fails to obtain a vote ment by a lawmaker who can prove a of confidence under clause (4) and any majority with the support of two or member under clause (2) presents a more parties. Article 76 (3) comes into ground on which he or she can obtain play when no one can form a govern- a vote of confidence in the House, the ment under Articles 76 (1) and (2), and President shall appoint such member in such a case, a leader of the party POST PHOTO: BEEJU MAHARJAN as Prime Minister. with the highest number of members The throne of Siddhinarsingh Malla is put on a day-long display at Krishna Mandir, the temple the king built in the 17th century, in Lalitpur on Thursday. On Jyestha Poornima every year, people This is the fourth provision that in the House can stake claim to the can observe the seat of the king who ruled over Patan and listen to the devotional songs he wrote. The ritual is believed to bring monsoon rains in Kathmandu Valley. At other times, the throne allows the government formation post of prime minister. is kept within the Malla Palace. after Article 76 (1), Article 76 (2) and In principle, it may look almost Article 76 (3). It, however, is complete- impossible for an individual to secure ly a far cry from the provisions that support of a majority of lawmakers are in place in other countries like the when the previous options have failed, United Kingdom and India where the but experts say since the provision is INSIDE parliamentary system is practised. in the constitution, it must be fol- Political mishandling aggravates According to lawyers, Article 76 (5) lowed—in letter and spirit. allows any Member of Parliament to Harihar Dahal, a senior advocate, stake claim to the post of prime minis- said Article 76 (5) was envisioned as a Floods continue to wreak ter if he or she thinks can prove a “shield” for Parliament, hinting that havoc in Manang majority. “Actually, Article 76(5) is the when it faced an imminent danger of most powerful weapon bestowed upon dying, the provision could save it. LAMJUNG: The residents of Manang, a vaccine uncertainty, experts say the Members of the Parliament [by >> Continued on page 2 mountain district in Gandaki Province, have had no respite from intermittent floods in the Marsyangdi Oli’s focus is on politics rather than governance, as he has river. There were massive floods in the river in Chame on Wednesday, been shuffling ministers, including at Health Ministry, and leaving a bailey bridge that links upper Manang to other parts of the there’s a lack of will, not resources, to arrange for the jabs. district at high risk of being swept away. The floodwaters overflowed through the bridge where some trees swept away by the flooded river are stuck. According to Narayan Kusum, chief at Veterinary Hospital and Livestock Service Centre in Manang, a building of Lokpriya Secondary School in the area, some houses of locals and a suspension bridge are also at the high risk of flooding. He said the river changed its course and flowed to the settlement. (Details on Pg 2) President appoints 20 officials to constitutional bodies as case is sub judice in court KATHMANDU: Even while the recom- mendation for their appointments remains sub judice in the Supreme Court, President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Thursday appointed 20 chairs and members in 11 different constitutional commissions without POST FILE PHOTO Nepal’s vaccination scenario looked promising at start but vaccines aren’t coming in of late. the parliamentary hearing mandated by the constitution. The Constitu- ARJUN POUDEL tional Council had controversially AstraZeneca type vaccine, to buy 2 KATHMANDU, JUNE 24 recommended their appointments in million doses, it raised hopes. The 11 crucial constitutional bodies government said it would buy an addi- including the Public Service Commis- Of the several calls Dr Sarad Onta has tional 5 million doses “soon”. sion, Commission for Investigation of been getting lately, around half a Given the fact that the Serum Abuse of Authority and the Election dozen or so every day are from those Institute is the largest vaccine manu- Commission on May 9. Prior to the who want to know if he could help facturer in the world, there was no appointments, the Oli government on arrange the second dose of the room to doubt that Nepal would be May 4 issued an ordinance to amend Covishield vaccine. able to vaccinate as many people with- the Constitutional Council Act 2010 “Their concerns are genuine. They in months, if not in three months. allowing a majority of the council to think I can make some recommenda- With COVAX, the international vac- tions,” said Onta, a public health cine-sharing scheme backed by the hold its meeting. (Details on Pg 3) expert. “But I am helpless. I apologise United Nations, making a commit- to them and say I can barely do any- ment to provide around 13 million Nepal’s annual soybean oil thing.” doses, enough to inoculate 20 percent Around 1.4 million Nepalis aged 65 of the 30 million population, Nepal exports near Rs50 billion and above took the first dose of looked confident in its fight against KATHMANDU: Nepal’s soybean oil Covishield some four months ago– the coronavirus. exports to India hit a staggering between March 7 and March 15. As per COVAX commitment, 1.9 mil- Rs42.34 billion in the first 11 months With no stock of doses, the govern- lion doses were to arrive in Nepal by of the fiscal year, a four-fold jump ment has not been able to inoculate March. After the shipment of 348,000 from Rs10.12 billion in the same peri- them with the booster dose—a must doses on March 7, there is no commu- od last year, making it the country’s for better efficacy. nication from COVAX, except that an make export commodity. Experts say Despite being one of the first additional 348,000 could come by July. shipments could reach Rs50 billion by countries to launch the vaccination But as the coronavirus crisis deep- mid-July, due to the rent seeking men- drive against Covid-19, Nepal’s inocu- ened in India from March, it put a ban tality of Nepali traders and the eager- lation campaign has become a fiasco on exports of AstraZeneca vaccine. ness of the government to amass rev- now. Though government officials After supplying 1 million doses, the enue, which has allowed exporters to have been claiming that they are mak- Serum Institute told the Nepal govern- exploit loopholes in the zero tariff ing “utmost efforts” to get vaccines, ment about its inability to provide the privilege given to Nepal as a least there has not been any substantial remaining doses. Serum even suggest- developed country. (Details on Pg 5) development. ed that Nepal could take the money When Nepal started its vacci- back, if it wished so. There was no nation campaign on January 27 basis to believe Nepal could buy an with the 1 million doses of additional 5 million doses. Covishield provided by India “We are not in position to say any- under grant assistance, Prime thing about when the vaccines will Minister KP Sharma Oli had arrive,” said Dr Roshan Pokhrel, chief announced that all Nepalis specialist at the Health Ministry. would be inoculated within Apart from Covishield, Nepal has so three months. It was seemingly a far received 1.8 million doses of Vero wild claim. But in February, Cell, developed and manufactured by when the government signed a Sinopharm, a Chinese state-owned deal with the Serum Institute of company, under grant assistance from India, the manufacturer of the government of China.