Ex-PM Oli claims prime ministerial post as Dahal fails floor test to secure the seat

Immediately after Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal lost his fifth vote of confidence, former PM KP Sharma Oli staked his claim to the prime ministerial post. After Dahal failed in the floor test which was conducted on Friday, Nepal’s President Ramchandra Paudel invited the House of Representatives to form a new government under Article 76 (2) of the Consitution of Nepal.

The Article in question empowers the President to appoint a prime minister from the elected members of the House of Representatives. However, that candidate has to secure a majority with the support of two or more political parties. Shortly after the invitation from the president was issued, the CPN-UML chief presented signatures from 165 lawmakers on Friday night, The Kathmandu Post reported.

Oli and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba came to an agreement and submitted the application asking the president to appoint Oli as the new prime minister. They cited the majority support Oli is receiving 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," he added.

Appointment to be made soon 

Both the Congress and UML chief visited the president’s house along with a few other party leaders to submit the letter. During the conversation with Deuba and Oli, the Nepalese president made it clear that he would appoint the UML chief as the country’s Prime Minister after the deadline for Dahal ends.

“With the country grappling with floods and landslides and unprecedented human casualties, there is an urgency,” a UML leader told The Kathmandu Post. “So the appointment will be made on Sunday morning and the swearing-in could take place on the same afternoon,” he added.

“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,” the Nepali politician furthered. It is pertinent to note that UML is the second largest party in the parliament and has 77 lawmakers, excluding the speaker of the House and suspended lawmaker Top Bahadur Rayamanjhi, who is currently in Jail.

To stake a claim to form a new government, a minimum of 138 signatures are required in the 275-seat House of Representatives. Until the new government is formed, the president has asked Dahal to continue as a caretaker PM.

“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)," a statement from the President’s office read after Dahal failed the floor test.