Prez Bhandari invites parties to form govt, serves seven-day deadline to stake claim for new govt leadership

Published On: December 19, 2022 08:30 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Dec 19: With the final results of the November 20 general elections already published by the Election Commission (EC), President Bidya Devi Bhandari has asked two or more than two political parties to form a new government.

According to a statement issued by the Office of the President on Sunday, President Bhandari invited leaders who can garner support of two or more than two parties to secure requisite majority votes in parliament to stake claim for the leadership of the new government within next seven days. Those able to garner support of requisite majority votes in the House of Representatives (HoR) are given a deadline to submit their claim by 5 pm Sunday.

Article 76 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal, 2015 states that the president shall appoint as prime minister the member of the House of Representatives who can have the majority with the support of two or more political parties represented in the House of Representatives if there is not a clear majority of any party in the parliament. The leader, who is appointed as the prime minister according to this provision in the constitution, needs to take a vote of confidence in parliament within 30 days of the appointment.

In the recently-held parliamentary election, Nepali Congress (NC) stood as the largest party with a total 89 seats in the HoR. While CPN-UML has emerged as the second largest party with a total of 78 seats, the Maoist Center has become the third largest party with a total of 32 seats in the parliament. Since none of the political parties in parliament could secure the requisite 138 seats for a majority to form a new government, President Bhandari has invited a parliament member to stake claim for the government leadership within the set deadline.

Meanwhile, the ruling NC, which has staked claim for the government leadership in the capacity as the largest political party, has announced plans to hold the Parliamentary Party (PP) leader election. The PP leader automatically becomes the party's candidate for the post of prime minister. NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba and youth leader Gagan Thapa are in the race for the party's PP leader.