Govt has no right to hold elections, say experts

Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, January 9:

Experts today said that the government has no right to hold elections for the House of Representatives as it was formed unconstitutionally. Nilambar Acharya, who was the law minister during the making of the Constitution in 1990, said the government has no right to hold elections as the government was not formed in a legal manner. “The government is illegal, how can it hold elections,” he questioned. He expressed these views while speaking at a programme on ‘Current Constitutional Crisis and Role of the King’ jointly organised by the Constitutional Lawyers’ Forum and Constitutional and Judicial Journalists’ Forum here today.

He said that if the government holds the elections, then the problem would get more complicated. “There is no option than to reinstate the House of Representatives,” Acharya added.

The Nepali Congress central committee member, Nilambar Acharya, accused the King of creating the current constitutional crisis. “Unless the King is ready to honour the Constitution there would be no way out of the crisis,” he said. “Though it has not been announced, the current Constitution is already dead,” he added.

The ruling CPN-UML spokesperson, Pradeep Kumar Nepal, said that it would be better for the country if his party quits the government as soon as possible. “The UML should quit the government as soon as possible,” he added. Nepal accused the King of violating the Constitution. “The King is the protector of the Constitution which he is violating,” he added. He, however, urged the King to reinstate the House with the help of Article 127 of the Constitution.

President of Nepal Bar Association, Shambhu Thapa, accused the political parties of making the King powerful beyond constitutional limits. “They gave the King enough space to play as per his interest due to which the people have became slaves of the King,” he added.