Oli Sworn-In as Nepal PM After Oppn Fails to Prove Majority

Image of PM KP Oli and the Nepali flag used for representational purposes.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

KP Sharma Oli was sworn-in as Nepal Prime Minister on Friday, 14 May, as Opposition parties failed to secure majority seats in the House to form a new government.

He had previously served as the country’s prime minister from October 2015 to August 2016 and later again from February 2018 to May 2021.

Oli was re-appointed, in his capacity as chairman of the largest political party, the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (Unified Marxist-Leninist) in the House of Representatives as per Article 78 (3) of the Constitution of Nepal, PTI reported.

The 69-year-old had earlier lost a trust vote in the House of Representatives on Monday, following which the President had asked the Opposition parties to come up with the support of majority lawmakers to form a new government by 9 pm on Thursday.

President Bhandari will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Oli at a ceremony at Shital Niwas on Friday.

Oli’s appointment came shortly after the Office of President said that no two parties or more than two parties came to lay claim to forming the coalition government by the given deadline that expired at 9 pm.

A vote of confidence at the House will have to be taken by Oli within 30 days, failing which, an attempt to form a government under Article 76 (5) would be initiated. Should both the steps fail, the House may face another dissolution and the country will move towards the direction of early elections, The Himalayan Times reported.

Although Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba had received support from CPN Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda”, he could not get full support from the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP).

Though JSP’s President Upendra Yadav had assured support to Deuba, another party president Mahanta Thakur had rejected the idea.

Nepali Congress and Maoist Centre have 61 and 49 seats in the lower house. Their combined strength was 110, which is insufficient to win majority vote.

At present, 136 votes are needed to form a majority government. The JSP has 32 seats in the House. Had it extended its support, Deuba would have gotten the chance to become the PM.

(With inputs from PTI and The Himalayan Times)