Chief Minister of Gandaki Province Prithvi Subba Gurung has said that the provincial assembly of Gandaki cannot be dissolved.

Addressing the special session of the provincial assembly on Tuesday, Gurung said “the provincial assembly is a platform to solve problems”.

“How can the assembly be dissolved without consulting the chief minister? It cannot be dissolved,” said Gurung, who belongs to the faction led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Gurung’s remarks come amid rumours of a possible dissolution of the provincial assemblies in the changed political situation in the country.

The special session of Gandaki Province assembly was convened at the request of the opposition lawmakers from Nepali Congress and Janata Samajbadi Party.

The opposition had called for the special session stating that the provincial government should be held accountable for failing to handle the Covid-19 pandemic in the province.

During his address, Gurung spent most of his time defending Oli’s move to dissolve the House of Representatives.

“The parliament has been handed over to the people. We should go to the people whenever there is a crisis in democracy. What’s wrong in dissolving the house and holding a fresh election? It is the prime minister’s right to dissolve the House of Representatives in the federal ruling system,” he said.

The representatives of the Nepali Congress, Janata Samajbadi Party and Rastriya Janamorcha also addressed the special session of the provincial assembly.

Krishna Chandra Nepali, the parliamentary party leader of the main opposition Nepali Congress, said that the opposition parties demanded the special session of the provincial assembly since the government failed to address the people’s problems due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The government never says no but it does not work. How can it solve the problems of people in such a way?” said Nepal. He also denounced the prime minister’s move to dissolve the House of Representatives.

The special session also agreed to register a common resolution proposal to manage Covid-19.

Chief Minister Gurung said the resolution proposal aims to make the provincial government’s response to the pandemic and the management of patients more effective.

Elsewhere in Karnali Province, all members of the Council of Ministers in the province have openly supported the Dahal-Nepal faction. The provincial government is without any representatives from the Oli group, as two ministers defected to the Dahal-Nepal faction.

Issuing a press statement on Tuesday, provincial Minister for Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment Nanda Singh Budha said that he was affiliated with the Dahal-Nepal faction to maintain political stability in Karnali. Budha, who was elected from Dolpa, was earlier close to the Oli group.

On Sunday, Social Development Minister Dal Rawal also defected to the Dahal-Nepal group. Twenty-two members of the 40-member provincial assembly are with the Dahal-Nepal faction. The Oli group has 10 members and the Speaker while Nepali Congress and Rastriya Prajatantra Party have six and one members respectively.

With the new political equation, the Karnali government led by Chief Minister Mahedra Bahadur Shahi, who is close to the Dahal-Nepal group, does not have any immediate threat of a possible no-confidence motion.

(Kalendra Sejuwal contributed reporting from Surkhet)