Kathmandu, May 22: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has dissolved the House of Representatives(HoR) and announced mid-term elections to be held in two phases. President Bhandari is said to have took the decision on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.

According to Minister for Communications and Information Technology Parbat Gurung, the elections have been announced to be held on November 12 and 19.

As per Article 76 (5) of the Constitution, the claims made for formation of a new government by Oli or Deuba did not fulfill the required criteria. Therefore, an emergency meeting of the cabinet was held, after which the president took the step.

Prime Minister Oli had earlier claimed support of 121 Member of Parliaments(MPs) of the ruling party, UML and 32 members of the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP). However, 26 MPs of UML and 12 MPs of JSP had signed in the claim submitted by Nepali Congress President Deuba, according to a statement issued by the Office of the President.

Nepali Congress president Deuba had claimed for a new government leadership with signatures from 61 NC MPs, 49 CPN (Maoist Centre) MPs, 26 CPN-UML MPs and Janamorcha Nepal’s Durga Poudel. However, the statement added that the chairs and parliamentary party leaders of UML and JSP demanded the signatures of their respective party MPs be rejected.

The President rejected both the claims as MPs were found repeated in the claims by both the leaders and that MPs had supported one another going against the party’s decision. The president also considered Article 89 of the Constitution and the Political Party Act, 2073 before coming to the decision.

(With inputs from agencies)