Nepal Opposition fails to garner majority, Oli re-appointed as Prime Minister
May 13, 2021
Kathmandu [Nepal] May 13 : Despite losing a vote of confidence in parliament, KP Sharma Oli has been re-appointed as Prime Minister by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Thursday late evening as opposition parties failed to garner majority and claim for the prime ministership.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari had earlier given a three-day deadline that expired at 9 PM on Thursday evening to stake claim to form a new government to opposition parties.
Since opposition parties were unable to garner requisite majority seats in parliament, President Bhandari on late Thursday announced no one came to claim the stake and re-appointed Oli as Prime Minister.
"Honorable President Bidhya Devi Bhandari has re-appointed KP Sharma Oli as Prime Minister as the leader of single largest party in the parliament as per Article 76 (3) of Constitution of Nepal," Spokesperson at Office of the President, Rupnarayan Bhattarai said in a release.
As per the official, PM Oli will again be taking the oath to the office at 2 PM (Local Time) at the Office of the President on Friday.
President Bhandari has the right to reappoint Oli as the new prime minister in his capacity Opposition parties on Thursday tried to forge consensus for a coalition government which failed despite several attempts.
Meeting of party's current and former office bearers' held at the residence of Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba concluded that sharp division within Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) whether to support the NC-led government had made the formation of an alternative government impossible.
Standing Committee meeting of Maoist Center held at party's headquarter in Parisdanda also concluded that formation of an alternative government was not possible. The Maoist Center had decided to support NC to form a coalition government.
The NC had earlier planned to form a new government with the support of CPN (Maoist Center), JSP, and the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led faction of the UML. The plan failed to materialize as there was an agreement between Chairman K P Oli and rival faction leader Nepal within the UML and Upendra Yadav and Baburam Bhattarai-led faction of the JSP failed to secure a majority in the party.
