Supreme Court Ruling Allows Dissolution of

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 001515

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV EAID PINR NP GON
SUBJECT: Supreme Court Ruling Allows Dissolution of
Parliament to Stand, Elections to Proceed

REF: A) Kathmandu 1146, B) Kathmandu 1005, C) Kathmandu

740 (NOTAL)


1. (SBU) Summary. On August 6, Nepal's Supreme Court
threw out four petitions challenging the Prime Minister's
May decision to dissolve Parliament. The court's decision
cleared the way for national elections to be held later
this year. End Summary.

Supreme Court Denies Request to Reinstate Parliament
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2. (U) Nepal's Supreme Court on August 6 unanimously
dismissed four separate petitions challenging the May 22
dissolution of the Lower House of Parliament (Ref A). A
bench made up of eleven of the court's nineteen justices
reached the decision after more than six weeks of
deliberations. The plaintiffs had included 56 Nepali
Congress Party Members of Parliament (MPs) aligned with
former Prime Minister G.P. Koirala, and a group of five
MPs from a small far-left party.

Precedent Rules
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3. (U) In its ruling, the court drew on the precedent it
set in 1994 when it upheld the decision of then-Prime
Minister G.P. Koirala to dissolve the lower house. The
1994 decision paved the way for new national elections
later that year. The court did, however, block subsequent
attempts to dissolve parliament, under somewhat different
circumstances, in both 1995 and 1998 (Ref C).


4. (SBU) As related in Ref A, legal experts had agreed
that this time Prime Minister Deuba stood on firmer legal
ground than the plaintiffs. Even so, until the final hour
most observers were unsure which way the ruling would go.
Immediately after the decision was announced, one
prominent journalist commented that the court's strong
ruling was meant as a signal to dissuade politicians from
taking their political disputes to the bar.

Journalists Left Outdoors as Decision Released
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5. (U) Local Nepali journalists were incensed after
Supreme Court officials announced August 5 that no members
of the press would be permitted to attend the session
where the court's decision was released. Officials
initially put off an Embassy request to attend the
session, but called Poloff only two hours before it began
to offer him a place. Most of the seats in the galley
were taken by court employees. A few local law students
were also permitted to attend. A throng of journalists
crowded the court grounds, where they could listen to the
proceedings via loudspeaker.

Legal Path to Elections Clear
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6. (SBU) The dismissal of the four petitions clears the
way--legally speaking--for national elections scheduled
for November this year. Substantial security, logistic
and resource constraints remain, however. Further
complicating matters, an August 5 meeting of Nepal's
Cabinet decided to move ahead with preparations to hold
local elections (for village, city and district level
posts) within the current fiscal year, which ends July 15,

2003. Post, including USAID, will continue working with
other donors to access Nepal's needs in regard to both the
national and local elections.

BOGGS