KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress vice president Bishwa Prakash Sharma has challenged the government’s new ordinance allowing decisions in the six-member Constitutional Council of Nepal to be made by a majority of members present at a meeting.

Ahead of Thursday’s Constitutional Council meeting to recommend a new chief justice, Sharma said three members alone cannot constitute a majority in a six-member body.

Citing a May 2024 Supreme Court verdict on the Gandaki Provincial Assembly, he argued that “majority must mean more than half.”

In a post on X, Sharma said Supreme Court interpretations are binding under Article 128(4) of the Constitution and warned against undermining democratic norms.

The Constitutional Council meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Balen Shah, is scheduled for 5 pm at Singha Durbar with the main agenda of recommending a new chief justice.