KATHMANDU, Feb15: Following the cabinet of ministers meeting, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will address the nation at 11 AM and step down from his post today.
“The prime minister will announce his resignation after an address to the nation on Thursday morning, following a cabinet meeting,” said Commerce Minister Min Bahadur Bishwakarma.
Prime Minister Deuba addressing to nation today
Prime Minister Deuba had been putting off his resignation so far, maintaining that he would step down only after the EC submitted the final results of the parliamentary election to the president. His close aides said Prime Minister Deuba is preparing to step down after addressing the nation on Thursday.
"The reason why the prime minister stayed in power is to ensure the full implementation of the constitution. Since the submission of PR results of the HoR by the EC to the president ensures full implementation of the new constitution, the prime minister will tender his resignation from the post now," said the prime minister's aides.
The EC submitted the complete results of HoR polls including the results under the proportional electoral system on Wednesday. The EC was reluctant to announce the PR seats of the central parliament, citing ambiguous constitutional provisions.
There are a total 59 members including three nominated by the government in the upper house. Similarly, 165 of the total 275 members of the lower house are elected under the First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system and the remaining 110 under the PR system.
The EC had delayed the announcement of the parliamentary poll results after the major political parties remained sharply divided over the ambiguous constitutional provisions. But as the EC decided to withhold the PR results of HoR until the result of National Assembly elections were out, prompting the CPN-UML to accuse the EC of toeing the line of the Nepali Congress (NC)-led government.
A standing committee meeting of the UML on Wednesday decided to field the party's Chairman K P Sharma Oli as the new prime minister on behalf of the left alliance comprising the UML and the Maoist Center.
Prime Minister Deuba's resignation on Thursday is coming in the wake of the UML alleging that he was unnecessarily prolonging his stay in the government over ambiguous constitutional provisions. However, the prime minister had maintained that he would step down soon after the electoral processes of province, HoR and National Assembly.
