CPN-UML KP Sharma Oli has challenged the Supreme Court (SC) for ruling that Rastriya Swatantra Party Chairman Rabi Lamichhane is ineligible to become a lawmaker.
The constitutional court, including acting Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki, and Justices Bishwambhar Shrestha, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada, Ananda Mohan Bhattarai and Anil Kumar Sinha, reasoned on January 27 that Lamichhane is ineligible to become a lawmaker because he did not complete the process to re-acquire your certificate of citizenship that became invalid after you acquired US citizenship. Consequently, he too became ineligible to continue as Deputy Prime Minister and Home Secretary and duly resigned.
Lamichhane then acquired Nepali citizenship from the Kathmandu District Administration Office on January 29.
Speaking during the House meeting on Sunday, Oli clarified that he respects the SC verdict, but later criticized it. Noting that the Election Commission investigated the complaints filed against Lamichhane before the November 20, 2022 elections and found him eligible to run in the elections, he emphasized that Lamichhane was elected by the sovereign people by a very wide margin.
He characterized Lamichhane’s lack of Nepali citizenship at the time of contesting the election as a mere procedural problem which was corrected on the first day government offices reopened and suggested that the High Court should have asked Lamichhane to correct the procedural problem by acquiring Nepali citizenship instead of revoking the position of legislator and, consequently, that of deputy prime minister and home minister.
It has also repeated the arguments presented by Lamichhane’s lawyers before the Constitutional Chamber, stating that the petitioners did not have to move the court on the issue by questioning how the petitioners were harmed by the fact that Lamichhane was elected deputy.
The court, in response to the arguments of Lamichhane’s lawyers, asked them whether a foreign citizen or non-citizen can be allowed to continue to function as a legislator and minister if no one files a complaint against the person.
Oli has also questioned who the SC provided justice for.
