Army Chief's Monday meeting with Chief Justice triggers speculations
KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 24
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has called a meeting of the National Security Council today at 9:00 am.
The Security Council and Prime Minister will meet for discussions at PM's official residence in Baluwatar.
The meeting will be followed immediately by another meeting of the Council of Ministers.
The two back-to-back meetings at a time when the Supreme Court is due to spell its verdict on the ongoing House Dissolution case is being looked at with much curiosity.
The hearings by SC's Constitutional Bench on the writ petitions filed against the Oli-government's move to dissolve the House have concluded and a verdict on the same is expected within this week. All eyes are now on the Apex Court, its decision, and the political aftermath of its decision.
Meanwhile, Nepal Army's Chief of Staff Purna Chandra Thapa's visit to the Supreme Court Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana on Monday has also generated a lot of speculations given that the Prime Minister had recently warned of further agitation should the SC pronounce a verdict unsuitable to the current government, at a public event.
The Army's Department of Public Relations and Information has stated that issues pertaining to handover of the land where the Army's cavalry used to be situated, to the Supreme Court, were discussed at the meeting. However, commentators believe that such a misleading step during these crucial times could have been avoided, averting suspicion in the minds of general public and such 'messages' could have been delivered via other sources.
In the meantime, the Election Commission of Nepal is still in a fix over legitimacy issues corresponding to the two warring factions of the ruling Nepal Communist Party.
Details on the meetings to follow.
