KATHMANDU: Amicus Curiae Senior Advocate Komal Prakash Ghimire, who was selected from the Supreme Court Bar Association on House of Representatives (HoR) dissolution case, has said that the claim made by Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba for the post of Prime Minister is legal as per Article 76 (5) of the constitution.
Presenting his opinion in the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court on Monday, he said that Deuba’s claim for the post of PM under Article 76 (5) was legitimate as he submitted the signatures of 149 lawmakers.
He said that it was not appropriate to stake claim as per Article 76 (5) as KP Sharma Oli did not get a vote of confidence when he was the PM as per Article 76 (2) and stated that he could not get a vote of confidence when he was the PM as per Article 76 (3).
He said, “Article 76 (5) states that the Prime Minister shall be the Member of Parliament who obtains a majority. Therefore, Sher Bahadur’s claim seems to legitimate here. In 76 (1), one does not have to go to the President to make a claim. In 76 (2), the Prime Ministerial candidate need not go to stake claim as a letter from the parties is sufficient. But the basis for getting a vote of confidence in Article 76 (5) is counting heads of individual lawmakers.” He added, “KP Oli’s letter reached the President. The Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) also took a the letter. However, letters of UML and JSP is useful in 76 (2) only.”
Stating that there are many opportunities for political parties to form a government in the constitution, he said that the situation of Article 76 (5) will come after the parties fail to form a government.
Senior advocate Ghimire also said that a person who has not received a vote of confidence once could never be appointed prime minister again.
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