Five parties become part of federal government

KATHMANDU, Aug 4: The Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP) joined the federal government on Friday. With this, there are five parties in the federal government now. A lawmaker of NUP, Arun Kumar Chaudhary, has been appointed as the Minister of State for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation. This time, NUP has settled for a ministerial position in the federal government.

Earlier, under the leadership of the then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, NUP chair Ranjita Shrestha served as the Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation. 

Shrestha was in favor of the new alliance formed on March 4 by the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center), as the Nepali Congress withdrew from the government. At that time, the NUP was divided into two factions on whether to support the UML and Maoist Center-led coalition government.

Shrestha had sought to join the government along with UML and the Maoist Center. She had publicly stated that she was going to be part of the government. However, before she could become a minister, the government led by Dahal with the support of UML collapsed on July 12. A new government was then formed by the NC and the UML.

On July 14, UML chairman KP Sharma Oli became the Prime Minister. The NUP joined this government with a ministerial position. The government, including the NC, UML, Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP), and Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP), added NUP to its coalition. Along with Chaudhary, Rupa BK and Purna Bahadur Tamang were appointed as the Minister of State for Forests and Environment and the Minister of State for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, respectively. PM Oli administered the oath of office and secrecy to all three ministers on Friday.

When PM Oli sought a vote of confidence in the HoR, NUP supported him. He secured a vote of confidence with the support of two-thirds of the Member of Parliament (MP)’s in the House of Representatives (HoR). However, the Janamat Party did not join the federal government. In Madhesh Province, Janamat Party's Satish Singh became the Chief Minister with the support of the NC and the UML.

Oli received a vote of confidence from Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, JSP, Janamat Party, JSP Nepal, LSP, NUP, and independent MP Amresh Kumar Singh. Oli's government received a vote of confidence from 188 MPs, while 74 MPs from the Maoist Centre, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), and CPN (Unified Socialist) voted against it. One lawmaker abstained. 

According to Article 76 (2) of the Constitution, Oli was appointed PM on July 14. On July 15, Oli formed a 22-member cabinet, which was completed on Friday with the addition of three ministers of state. The constitutional provision states that the federal government cannot have more than 25 members.

After NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba and UML chairman Oli forged a new alliance at midnight on July 1 under a seven-point agreement, the Dahal-led government collapsed on July 12.