KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal failed to secure his vote of confidence from the parliament on Friday, officially ending his tenure as Prime Minister.
Out of 258 lawmakers present in parliament, 63 lawmakers from the CPN (Maoist Center), CPN (Unified Socialist), and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) supported him, while 194 voted against him.
One lawmaker opted to remain neutral.
PM Dahal needed 138 votes in his favor to win the confidence vote.
The CPN-UML and Nepali Congress have formed a new alliance and agreed to let UML Chair KP Sharma Oli lead the new government.
However, there is disagreement among constitutional experts regarding the process for forming the new government.
Some argue in favor of Article 76 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal, which would result in KP Sharma Oli becoming the next Prime Minister. Others advocate for Article 76 (3), which would make Sher Bahadur Deuba, President of the Nepali Congress, the next Prime Minister.
The new alliance of UML and Nepali Congress has agreed to appoint KP Sharma Oli as the next Prime Minister.
However, there is no provision in the Constitution guaranteeing Oli’s appointment as the new Prime Minister.
According to Article 76 of the Constitution of Nepal, related to the formation of a new government, and the precedent set by the Supreme Court when Oli dissolved the parliament, if a government formed under Article 76 (2) fails to garner a vote of confidence, a new government will be formed under Article 76 (3).
Article 76 (3) states that if a Prime Minister cannot be appointed pursuant to clause (2) within thirty days after the declaration of the final results of the election to the House of Representatives, or if the appointed Prime Minister fails to secure a vote of confidence pursuant to clause (4), the President shall appoint as Prime Minister the leader of the parliamentary party with the highest number of members in the House of Representatives.
Currently, the Nepali Congress is the largest party in parliament, which means Deuba would be the next Prime Minister, not KP Oli.
However, Oli can be appointed Prime Minister after Deuba under Article 76 (5).
Meanwhile, the Nepali Congress and UML have already reached an agreement to appoint KP Oli as Prime Minister for the first one and a half years, after which the position will be handed over to the Nepali Congress.
If reports of the agreement are accurate, constitutional disputes over appointing Oli as Prime Minister seem imminent.
Comment