Curfew imposed in Nepal’s Bara district after clash between UML cadres, Gen-Z group

KATHMANDU(Nepal): An eight-hour curfew has been imposed in the Simara airport area of Bara District in the Southern plains of Nepal following a clash between the Gen-Z group and the CPN-UML cadres.

The District Administration Office, Bara, from Wednesday mid-day imposed curfew after a clash between Gen-Z youths and the CPN- UML supporters.

“The curfew covers 500 meters on both sides of the Gandak canal- Pathlaiya road section and 500 meters around Simara airport,” the order reads. Flights to and from Kathmandu through Simara have been halted.

The clashes began after Gen Z youths demonstrated when they learned UML leaders were arriving in Simara. UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel and leader Mahesh Basnet were scheduled to travel through the airport to attend a programme in Parwanipur, prompting the protests.

The CON-UML on Tuesday had decided to file a writ petition at the Supreme Court against the dissolution of the House of Representatives.

Upon the recommendation of Prime Minister Sushila Karki, President Ramchandra Paudel had dissolved the House of Representatives on September 12 following the Gen-Z movement that turned into a lightning revolt and violent protests across the country.

At least 78 people lost their lives in the protests on September 8 and 9. The Karki administration has the mandate to conduct the snap polls on March 5.

A meeting of the dissolved parliamentary party of the UML on Tuesday concluded that there is no alternative to the restoration of Parliament.

Accordingly, the party decided to file a petition in the top court.

Over a dozen petitions have already been filed in the court seeking to reinstate the House. The Supreme Court has already started hearing the cases against House dissolution.

The UML, the second largest party in the dissolved House of Representatives, has entrusted Mahesh Bartaula and Sunita Baral to file a case in the Supreme Court on the party’s behalf.

On September 12, the appointment of former chief justice Karki as prime minister was made in contravention of Article 76 (government formation) and Article 132 (2) (barring a person who has served as chief justice or justice of the Supreme Court from appointment to any other governmental post, except as otherwise provided by the constitution), read a statement issued by Bartaula after the meeting. The dissolution of Parliament was one of the major demands of the agitating Gen Z.

The UML meeting deemed this appointment, in direct violation of the people’s mandate from the 2022 general election and established democratic norms, to be prima facie unconstitutional, reads the statement.

“The subsequent act by the unconstitutionally appointed prime minister, who immediately dissolved the House of Representatives (HoR) without even forming a full Council of Ministers, is against the letter and spirit of the constitution. This act is against the concepts of constitutionalism, rule of law, democracy, and the sovereign power vested in the people,” the statement reads.

The meeting decided to file a writ petition in the Supreme Court for the reinstatement of the House to correct this “unconstitutional and anti-democratic step.” (ANI)