KP Sharma Oli became Prime Minister with the support of the Nepali Congress, the largest party in Parliament.
Kathmandu:
KP Sharma Oli was on Monday sworn in as Nepal’s prime minister for the fourth time to lead a new coalition government facing the difficult challenge of providing political stability in the Himalayan nation.
The leader of Nepal’s largest communist party was appointed prime minister on Sunday by President Ram Chandra Paudel to lead the coalition government with the Nepali Congress (NC), the largest party in Parliament, as well as other smaller parties.
Oli, 72, succeeds Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, who lost the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives (HoR) on Friday, leading to the formation of the new government.
Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML), Oli was sworn in by President Paudel at Shital Niwas, the main building of the Rashtrapati Bhawan, in a ceremony that was delayed for more than half an hour.
According to news portal MyRepublica, the inauguration ceremony was postponed due to the failure of the Nepali Congress to finalize the names of its ministers to join the government amid disputes within the party.
The President also administered oaths to the two Deputy PMs – Prakash Man Singh and Bishnu Paudel – and 19 other ministers. Singh would also look after the Ministry of Urban Development, while Vishnu Prakash Paudel would look after the Ministry of Finance.
Arzoo Rana Deuba, wife of Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba, is the foreign minister in the cabinet.
There are 10 ministers from the Nepali Congress; eight, excluding PM, from the CPN-UML, two from the Janata Samajwadi Party and one from the ruling Lokatantrik Samajwadi Party.
Outgoing Prime Minister Prachanda was also present at the ceremony, which was attended by foreign diplomats and other dignitaries.
Earlier on Sunday, President Paudel appointed Oli as the new Prime Minister under Article 76-2 of the Constitution of Nepal, according to a notice issued by the President’s Office.
On Friday night, Oli staked his claim to become the next Prime Minister with the support of NC Chairman Deuba and presented the signatures of 165 members of the House of Representatives (HoR) – 77 from his Communist Party of Unified Nepal-Marxist-Leninist (CPN). -UML) and 88 from the Nepali Congress. (NC).
Oli will now have to obtain a vote of confidence from Parliament within 30 days of his appointment, which he is likely to achieve easily as the minimum number to form a government in the 275-member HoR is just 138.
Prachanda faced the confidence vote early last week, Oli’s party withdrew its support for that coalition and signed a new seven-point agreement with Deuba to form a new coalition government.
According to the July 1 agreement between the NC and the CPN-UML, the two parties will lead the government on a rotating basis until the next general elections scheduled for 2027.
Oli served as Prime Minister of Nepal from 11 October 2015 to 3 August 2016 and then from 5 February 2018 to 13 July 2021. He continued to serve from 13 May 2021 to 13 July 2021 – because of an appointment by then President Bidya Devi Bhandari, described by local media as a success of Oli’s Machiavellian tricks. The Supreme Court later ruled that Oli’s claim to the prime ministership was unconstitutional.
Nepal has faced frequent political turmoil as the country has seen 14 governments in the last 16 years after the introduction of the republican system.
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