More members of the dissolved House of Representatives from the Nepali Congress are preparing to submit a petition at the Supreme Court, following the CPN-UML’s decision to seek the restoration of Parliament.

The government is preparing to hold snap parliamentary elections on March 5. Earlier, 75 UML lawmakers had petitioned the court demanding the restoration of the House, which was dissolved on September 12 by President Ramchandra Paudel on the recommendation of interim prime minister Sushila Karki. The dissolution itself followed the Gen Z movement that installed Karki as prime minister.

“By Monday, we will be ready with the signatures of 65 to 70 of our [erstwhile] lawmakers,” said Shyam Ghimire, chief whip of the Congress in the dissolved House. The Congress has officially decided to take part in the March 5 elections but calls the House dissolution ‘unconstitutional’.

On December 9, Ghimire, the party’s whip Sushila Thing and seven other Congress parliamentarians registered a separate petition at the Supreme Court. The court has subsequently issued a show-cause notice to the President’s Office, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Election Commission, the Speaker and others. The petition submitted on individual basis objected to the decision of the prime minister who was appointed “unconstitutionally and illegally”.

But within the Congress, there is division over whether the party should knock on the court’s door seeking House reinstatement. A group of Congress parliamentarians led by general secretary Gagan Thapa has declined to sign the petition.

“Even if they are not in touch with us,” said Ghimire, “we have collected sufficient signatures to reach a majority of the dissolved House.”

The Congress and the UML need 138 signatures for a majority in the 275-strong House of Representatives dissolved in September.

The Congress is taking part in the March elections but a majority of its leaders maintain that if elections do not happen on March 5, House restoration is the only option to avert a constitutional void in the country.

Mahesh Bartaula, then-chief whip of the UML, said at least 63 Congress House members will provide signatures by Monday. They will then submit a supplementary plea to the original petition by Congress parliamentarians to the top court.

“We expect signatures of 150 parliamentarians to be submitted to the Supreme Court, which is more than the majority,” said Bartaula. “If we need more signatures, we can talk to other individual lawmakers and small parties as well.”

In her address to the nation marking her 100 days in office, Prime Minister Karki said that rumours about cancellation or postponement of the March elections are baseless.

The UML’s position is that, if Parliament is restored, an all-party government should be formed. Such a government should include political parties as well as other forces, and that the UML would not claim the leadership of that government. Such a government should hold new elections, the UML maintains.

Nepali Communist Party coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal said on Saturday that the March elections should happen at any cost and his party is ready to take part.

A Nepali Communist Party leader conceded to the Post that they also see the possibility of House reinstatement but cannot say so publicly.

“It’s our official decision to take part in the elections but we are on the same page with the Congress and the UML that House reinstatement is the most suitable option to address the demands of Gen Z—through constitutional amendments, formation of a high-level commission on corruption control and holding the election with youth representatives,” the leader said.

Some Madhesh-based parties are still in a state of confusion but they have more or less decided to take part in the election. But constitution amendment remains their core demand.

In a statement on Friday, UML’s Bartaula urged the President to restore Parliament. Due to a serious constitutional negligence and weakness on part of the President, who is the custodian of the constitution, the House of Representatives—the supreme representative body of the sovereign Nepali people—was dissolved in a conspiratorial and unconstitutional manner, he noted.