Nepal Prez dissolves Parliament, fresh polls in November

Nepal’s parliament was dissolved for the second time in five months Saturday and new elections called for November as the Himalayan country battled political turmoil amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari made the order after declaring that neither Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli nor Sher Bahadur Deuba, leader of the opposition Nepali Congress, had a majority to form a new government.

Bhandari dissolved parliament in the early hours of Saturday after a new breakdown in talks. “The president... has dissolved the current House of Representatives and fixed the first phase of general elections on November 12 and the second phase on November 19,” his office said in a statement.

Oli was reappointed the prime minister only last week as no leader could muster a majority after the veteran communist lost a vote of cownfidence.

The 69-year-old had a month to win a new vote of confidence in parliament but the president called on other parties to try to form a government as Oli struggled to win support.

Political rivalries between the communist PM and his former Maoist allies hit a new peak as the country battles a severe Covid-19 wave. Authorities have been reporting about 200 deaths a day, but experts say there are a lot more and the United Nations has launched an emergency Covid-19 appeal saying that Nepal is at “breaking point”. KATHMANDU: