Oli claims prime minister’s post with Congress backing

Article 76 (2) says the President appoints as prime minister a member of the House of Representatives who can secure a majority with support from two or more parties.

UML chief Oli presented signatures of 165 lawmakers on Friday night, shortly after the President issued the invitation giving parties until 5 pm on Sunday.

Oli and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba have jointly signed an application asking the President to appoint Oli as the new prime minister citing his majority support in the House of Representatives.

“The President’s Office has received signatures from the two major parties commanding the majority in the House,” said Kiran Pokhrel, press adviser to the Paudel. “The President will study the documents submitted by the parties.”

Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, Oli and a few other leaders had visited the President’s Office to present their letter. During the conversation with Deuba and Oli, the President said he would appoint Oli the new prime minister as soon as the deadline expires and agreed to administer oath of office and secrecy immediately after 5:00 pm, Sunday.

“But with the country grappling with floods and landslides and unprecedented human casualties, there is an urgency,” according to a UML leader. “So the appointment will be made on Sunday morning and the swearing-in could take place on the same afternoon.”

“We submitted the signatures of Congress and UML lawmakers to the President’s Office,” Ramesh Lekhak, chief whip of the Nepali Congress, said. “It is now up to the President to decide when to appoint the new prime minister.”

“With the support of the Nepali Congress, which has 88 lawmakers in the lower house, we submitted signatures of 165 lawmakers,” he added.

The UML, the second largest party in the House of Representatives, has 77 lawmakers excluding the Speaker and suspended lawmaker Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, who is in jail.

Deuba and Oli were accompanied by Congress chief whip Lekhak, UML chief whip Mahesh Bartuala, and other Congress and UML lawmakers when they submitted the signatures of lawmakers to the President’s Office.

To stake a claim to form a new government, a minimum of 138 signatures is required in the 275-seat House of Representatives.

Until a new government is installed, the President has asked the outgoing prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, to serve as caretaker. Dahal lost a vote of confidence on Friday.

Issuing a statement on Friday evening, the President’s Office said, “After Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal failed to secure a vote of confidence under Article 100 (3), as informed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, a member of Parliament commanding majority support from two or more political parties is invited to submit a claim for the post of prime minister by Sunday 5:00 pm, as per Article 76 (2).”

Although fringe parties, including the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), the JSP-Nepal, the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, the Janamat Party and the Nagarik Unmukti Party have pledged support to the Congress-UML coalition, Oli presented his claim to the President only with the backing of the UML and the Congress.

As per the July 1 deal between Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba and UML chair Oli, the two parties will lead the government on a rotational basis until next general elections scheduled for 2027.

On Friday, soon after Dahal failed the trust vote, President Paudel consulted constitutional and legal experts on new government formation. According to the President’s Office, those consulted were Purnaman Shakya, Bipin Adhikari, Gopal Krishna Ghimire, Harihar Dahal, Sher Bahadur KC, Tikaram Bhattarai, Chandra Kant Gyawali and Sitaram KC.

All constitutional experts besides Gyawali advised the President to initiate government formation as per Article 76 (2), according to a participant.

Gyawali had advised the President to invoke Article 76 (3).

According to Ghimire, they advised the President to call for government formation as per Article 76 (2) citing political and constitutional provisions, as well as past court verdicts. They told the President that any party commanding majority support should be given a chance.

After consulting the experts, Paudel decided to call for government formation as per Article 76 (2), an aide to the President said.

Prime Minister Dahal lost his position on Friday, over 18 months after his appointment.

Dahal could not secure the 138 votes required to endorse the trust motion as only 63 lawmakers voted in his favour. A total of 194 lawmakers voted against him, while one member voted to stay neutral. A total of 258 lawmakers were present in Friday’s meeting of the lower House.

Soon after failing to secure the confidence of the House, Prime Minister Dahal met with President Paudel to inform him of the outcome.

On Friday, Dahal moved from his official residence in Baluwatar to his private residence in Khumaltar.

source : kathmandupost