In a dramatic political development, Nepal’s two largest parties — Nepali Congress and CPN-UML — have inked a midnight power-sharing deal to form a new ‘national consensus government’ to replace the coalition government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda.”

Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) chairman and former prime minister K.P. Sharma Oli, reached an understanding on forming a new coalition on Monday midnight, according to former foreign minister Narayan Prakash Saud.

Mr. Deuba, 78 and Mr. Oli, 72, agreed to share the Prime Ministerial position on a rotation basis for the rest of the term of the Parliament, said Mr. Saud, who is also a Nepali Congress central member.

Nepali Congress, the largest party in the House of Representatives (HoR) has 89 seats at present while CPN-UML has 78 seats. The combined strength of the two large parties is 167, which is sufficient for a majority of 138 seats in the 275-member HoR.

The two leaders also met on Saturday to lay the ground for a potential new political alliance between the two parties, following which Mr. Oli’s CPN-UML ended its association with the Prachanda-led government barely four months after extending support to it.

Sharing premiership

Under the agreement that is likely to be finalised on Tuesday, the CPN-UML chief Mr. Oli will lead the government in the first phase of the remaining term of Parliament. The two leaders have agreed to share the premiership for one and a half years, turn by turn, Mr. Saud said.

The two leaders tentatively agreed to form a new government, amend the Constitution, and work out a power-sharing formula, which they reportedly shared with a few confidants, media reports said, quoting multiple senior leaders from both parties.

Nepal has had 13 governments in the last 16 years, indicating the fragile nature of the Himalayan nation’s political system.

The ministers belonging to the CPN-UML in the Prachanda-led Cabinet are likely to resign en-mass in the afternoon, sources close to the CPN-UML said.

CPN-UML secretary Shanker Pokharel has told media persons that an agreement was reached with the Nepali Congress to form a national government led by Mr. Oli, a former prime minister.

The new government will be formed to maintain political stability in the country and make necessary amendments to the Constitution.

Prachanda holds talks

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prachanda is holding talks with CPN-UML chief Mr. Oli to discuss the latest political developments, according to sources close to the CPN-Maoist Centre.

“Prachanda is not going to resign from the post at this moment. Nothing can be said before the talk being held between Prachanda and Oli concludes,” said Ganesh Shah, CPN-Maoist Centre secretary.

According to the agreement reached, during Mr. Oli’s tenure, the CPN-UML will take control of ministries, including the Prime Minister’s position and the Finance Ministry. Similarly, the Nepali Congress will oversee ten ministries, including the Home Ministry, MyRepublica news portal reported.

According to the agreement, the CPN-UML will lead provincial governments in Koshi, Lumbini and Karnali provinces and the Nepali Congress will lead the provincial governments of Bagmati, Gandaki and Sudurpaschim provinces.

Mr. Oli and Mr. Deuba have also agreed to involve Madhes-based parties in leading Madhesh Province and have committed to constitutional amendments.

The draft agreement was prepared by a four-member task force, The Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.

It will detail the power-sharing arrangement, propose amendments to the Constitution, review the electoral system, including proportional representation, change national assembly arrangements, and discuss the size of provincial assemblies, according to a task force member.

Differences

Differences between Mr. Oli and Prime Minister Prachanda had been steadily building, and Oli was unhappy with the recent budget allocations made by the government for the fiscal year 2024-25, which he had publicly spoken about.

Worried by the closed-door meeting between Mr. Deuba and Mr. Oli, Mr. Prachanda had gone to meet Mr. Oli to assure that the government is serious about addressing issues raised by CPN-UML, including its concern about the new budget, observers said.

During their meeting on Monday morning, Mr. Oli reportedly requested Mr. Prachanda to support him by stepping down, the report said.

Mr. Prachanda offered Mr. Oli the post of prime minister within the current ruling coalition, which the latter turned down, expressing his desire to lead a consensus government, a CPN-UML leader was quoted as saying.

Mr. Prachanda, 69, won three votes of confidence in Parliament during his one-and-a-half-year term.

When Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ went for a vote of confidence on January 10, 2023, days after he was elected the Prime Minister of Nepal, 268 parliamentarians of the 270 present in the 275-member parliament had voted in his favour.

On Monday, Prachanda once again sought a vote of confidence, for the fourth time within 18 months as the Prime Minister. He secured 157 votes. While one lawmaker stayed neutral, the rest were absent.

Prachanda may have survived, but in the first and fourth floor tests that he has gone for since assuming office on December 25, 2022, there has been a sharp contrast.

On technical grounds, he has saved his Prime Minister’s post, but it is apparent that the confidence the House had in him has waned, according to analysts. They say that the entire House appeared to have its confidence in the Prime Minister about a year and a half ago.

“The Prime Minister may have won the vote of confidence technically, but there are questions over the political legitimacy of this vote,” said Daman Nath Dhungana, a former House Speaker. “The way the whole proceedings were taken forward raises too many questions, including over the role of the House Speaker.”

On January 10 last year, the Nepali Congress (NC), the single largest party with the 88 seats, had voted in Prachanda’s favour, rendering the House Opposition-less. On Monday, the NC boycotted proceedings after the Prime Minister was allowed by Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire to seek the vote of confidence even as NC lawmakers protested and chanted slogans.

NC Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak told media later on Monday that the Prime Minister turned the parliament into barracks to take the vote of confidence. Mr. Ghimire failed to maintain the decorum of his post, the NC concluded.

“The Speaker failed to play the role as required by the post. He cannot present himself as a member of a certain party,” said Mr. Lekhak.

Monday’s was the second vote of confidence Prachanda, 69, sought since his decision to break his alliance with the NC in March.

As per the Constitution of Nepal, the Prime Minister is required to take a vote of confidence within 30 days if the party the Prime Minister is representing splits or if a member of the coalition government withdraws support. Mr. Prachanda had to go for the floor test this time because Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal withdrew its support on May 13.

Though Prachanda’s Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) had fought the November 2022 general elections under an alliance with the NC, he was elected the Prime Minister on December 25 that year with the support of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), or CPN (UML), the second largest party in parliament with 78 seats. A dispute between Prachanda and NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba over leading the government had prompted the Maoist leader to join hands with the CPN (UML).

After he backed the NC’s candidate for the presidential post, the UML withdrew its support in February last year, paving the way for the formation of the Maoist-Congress alliance. But after 13 months, in the first week of March, Prachanda in a sudden move ditched the NC to go back to the UML, and he inducted Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which has 21 seats, into the Cabinet. He appointed RSP President Rabi Lamichhane as the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister.

Mr. Lamichhane, however, is embroiled in a controversy with allegations that he had embezzled cooperative funds when he was serving as the managing director of a television company before joining politics.

The NC has been demanding that a parliamentary committee be formed to probe into cooperative fund embezzlement allegations against Mr. Lamichhane. On Monday too, as soon as the House proceedings began, NC parliamentarians rose from their seats in protest. But Mr. Ghimire deployed marshals.

Prachanda, who was marshalled to the podium, described the NC’s protest as a blot in Nepal’s history.

“You committed a huge mistake today. By trying to obstruct the Prime Minister from taking a vote of confidence, you have set a bad example,” said Prachanda, a former rebel leader, hinting at the NC. “You will have to pay a big price for this.”

After the confidence vote, the next meeting of Parliament was announced for Tuesday. The NC, however, has said it would continue to obstruct the proceedings.

Mr. Dhungana, the former House Speaker who also played a crucial role during the peace process after the end of the Maoist war led by Prachanda, said the ruling coalition and the House Speaker made a mockery of the parliamentary system as they failed to offer the slightest of respect to the Opposition.

“How can such a confidence vote be termed a confidence vote when a simple parliamentary process like this has been bulldozed?” said Mr. Dhungana. “It is incumbent upon the Prime Minister to take the Opposition into confidence and upon the Speaker to keep the House in order.”

The NC has concluded that the Prime Minister displayed an autocratic tendency by forcefully going for a vote of confidence on Monday, even as he had ample time to do so.

“As per the constitutional provision, the Prime Minister had 30 days to go for the confidence vote,” said Mr. Lekhak. “When the main Opposition has been demanding a parliamentary probe committee, the Prime Minister and the Speaker should have paid heed to it.”

The rift between the Prime Minister and the main Opposition NC has further widened at a time when the government is preparing to present the annual budget. As per the constitutional provision, the government must table the budget in Parliament on May 28.

Due to NC’s obstructions, the Parliament has not been able to deliberate on the government’s policies and programmes, presented by President Ram Chandra Poudel on May 14. If the NC’s obstruction continues, the government will be left with no option than to bring the budget through an ordinance, as failure to meet the May 28 deadline would mean a violation of the Constitution.

Mr. Dhungana said Prachanda and the coalition led by him have driven the main Opposition into a corner.

“The NC appears to be in a mood to go to any extent till its demand is met,” he said. “The Prime Minister’s failure to make any effort to reach an understanding with the Opposition before going for a confidence vote may cost him dearly.”

Kathmandu:

Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and senior Madhesi leader Upendra Yadav on Monday tendered his resignation and his party pulled out of the government in a setback to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda-led coalition government.

Upendra Yadav, also the Minister for Health and Population, submitted his resignation to Prime Minister “Prachanda” on Monday morning, according to sources close to the Madhesi leader. Along with Upendra Yadav, Minister of State for Forest and Environment Dipak Karki, from the same party, has also submitted his resignation.

The resignation by Upendra Yadav, the Chairman of Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (JSP-Nepal), comes a week after his party split into two groups with senior leader Ashok Rai forming a new party named Janata Samajwadi Party. The new party has been recognised by the Election Commission.

“This morning, I submitted my resignation to Prime Minister Dahal. Given the current political situation, I find it untenable to continue my cooperation with the government,” Upendra Yadav said.

The JSP-Nepal had altogether 12 lawmakers in the House of Representatives (HoR). Now the party’s strength has been reduced to 5 in the HoR as Rai and six other lawmakers and 30 central committee members joined the new party.

The ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Prachanda still holds a majority with 77 seats of the CPN-UML, 32 of the Maoist Centre, 21 of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, seven of the newly formed Janata Samajbadi Party and 10 seats of the CPN-Unified Socialist (CPN-US). The coalition requires at least 138 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives to prove a majority.

“The party’s pull out from the government will not have an immediate impact on the Prachanda-led coalition government,” said Sunil Manandhar, former environment minister and central committee member of the ruling CPN-Maoist Centre. However, it may have some repercussions on the stability of the government in the long term, he added.

There are reports that the Opposition Nepali Congress is trying to mobilise JSP-Nepal and CPN-US led by former prime minister Madhav Nepal to topple the Prachanda-led government. Nepali Congress is currently obstructing the proceedings of the House of Representatives demanding the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ravi Lamichhene, who is also the president of the Rastriya Swotantra Party over the issue of cooperative fund misappropriation.

If CPN-US also withdraws support from the government then the Prachanda-led government might need to prove its majority in the House of Representatives, point out political observers.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and senior Madhesi leader Upendra Yadav on Monday tendered his resignation and his party pulled out of the government, a setback to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda-led coalition government.

Mr. Yadav, also the Minister for Health and Population, submitted his resignation to Prime Minister “Prachanda” on Monday morning, according to sources close to the Madhesi leader. Along with Mr. Yadav, Minister of State for Forest and Environment Dipak Karki, from the same party, has also submitted his resignation.

The resignation by Yadav, the Chairman of Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (JSP-Nepal), comes a week after his party split into two groups with senior leader Ashok Rai forming a new party named Janata Samajwadi Party. The new party has been recognised by the Election Commission.

“This morning, I submitted my resignation to Prime Minister Dahal. Given the current political situation, I find it untenable to continue my cooperation with the government,” Mr. Yadav said.

The JSP-Nepal had altogether 12 lawmakers in the House of Representatives (HoR). Now the party’s strength has been reduced to 5 in the HoR as Rai and six other lawmakers and 30 central committee members joined the new party.

The ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Prachanda still holds a majority with 77 seats of the CPN-UML, 32 of the Maoist Centre, 21 of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, seven of the newly formed Janata Samajbadi Party and 10 seats of the CPN-Unified Socialist (CPN-US). The coalition requires at least 138 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives to prove a majority.

“The party’s pull out from the government will not have an immediate impact on the Prachanda-led coalition government,” said Sunil Manandhar, former Environment Minister and central committee member of the ruling CPN-Maoist Centre. However, it may have some repercussions on the stability of the government in the long term, he added.

There are reports that the Opposition Nepali Congress is trying to mobilise JSP-Nepal and CPN-US led by former Prime Minister Madhav Nepal to topple the Prachanda-led government. Nepali Congress is currently obstructing the proceedings of the House of Representatives demanding the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ravi Lamichhene, who is also the president of the Rastriya Swotantra Party over the issue of cooperative fund misappropriation.

If CPN-US also withdraws support from the government then the Prachanda-led government might need to prove its majority in the House of Representatives, point out political observers.