Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli was sworn in as Prime Minister of Nepal on July 15, 2024. File
| Photo Credit: AP

K.P. Sharma Oli on July 15 was sworn in as Nepal’s Prime Minister for the fourth time.

The leader of Nepal’s largest communist party was appointed Nepal’s Prime Minister on Sunday by President Ram Chandra Paudel to lead a new coalition government that faces the daunting challenge of providing political stability in the Himalayan nation.

Mr. Oli, 72, succeeds Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ who lost the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives on Friday, leading to the formation of the new government headed by Mr. Oli.

He became the Prime Minister with the support of the Nepali Congress, the largest party in Parliament.

Mr. Oli was sworn in by President Paudel at Shital Niwas, the main building of Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Editorial | ​Unprincipled alliances: On politics in Nepal

Mr. Oli now needs to secure a vote of confidence from Parliament within 30 days of appointment according to the constitutional mandate. Mr. Oli will need a minimum of 138 votes in the 275-seat House of Representatives (HoR).

Modi, Kharge congratulate Oli

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Mr. Oli on his appointment as Prime Minister of Nepal and said he looked forward to working closely with him to further strengthen the friendship between the two countries.

Congratulating Mr. Oli, Mr. Modi said on X, “Look forward to working closely to further strengthen the deep bonds of friendship between our two countries and to further expand our mutually beneficial cooperation for the progress and prosperity of our peoples.”

The Congress also extended its wishes to Mr. Oli on his appointment and said that every Indian looks forward to further strengthening the bonds of cooperation between the two countries for a brighter future.

In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “On the behalf of Indian National Congress, we extend our best wishes to Shree K.P. Sharma Oli, on his appointment as the Prime Minister of Nepal.”

As close neighbours, India and Nepal share unique ties of friendship and partnership characterised by deep-rooted people-to-people contacts of kinship and culture, he said.

“Every Indian looks forward to further strengthening the bonds of mutual cooperation for a brighter future,” Mr. Kharge said.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal delivers a speech before a confidence vote at the parliament in Kathmandu, Nepal, July 12, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ lost a vote of confidence in Parliament on July 12 after the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) withdrew its support for his government.

Prachanda received only 63 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives (HoR) and there were 194 votes against the motion. At least 138 votes are needed to win the vote of trust. A total of 258 HoR members participated in the voting while one member abstained.

Mr. Dahal, 69, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-MC), had survived four trust votes since he assumed the prime minister’s post on December 25, 2022.

He faced the same predicament yet another time because ex-premier K.P. Sharma Oli-led Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) withdrew support from the Prachanda-led government last week after inking a power-sharing deal with the largest party in the House — the Nepali Congress (NC).

Earlier, Speaker of the HoR Dev Raj Ghimire put Prachanda’s Vote of Trust for voting according to Article 100 Clause 2 of the Constitution. After voting was completed, he announced that the Vote of Trust was defeated with a majority vote.

Speaker Ghimire will now inform President Ram Chandra Paudel, who will invite two or more political parties to stake a claim for the new government, according to Article 76 Clause 2 of the Constitution. This paves the way for the NC and the CPN-UML to form a new coalition government.

NC, CPN-UML power sharing deal

The NC has 89 seats in the HoR, while CPN-UML has 78. Their combined strength of 167 is more than the 138 required for a majority in the lower house.

Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba has already endorsed Mr. Oli as the next prime minister.

Mr. Deuba and Mr. Oli inked a 7-point deal on Monday to form a new coalition government.

According to the agreement, they will share the premiership during the remaining period of the House of Representatives — Mr. Oli will become the Prime Minister for one and a half years and then Mr. Deuba will take the seat for the rest of the period.

Prachanda, whose party had 32 seats in the HoR, was elected the Prime Minister for the third time on December 25, 2022, with the backing of CPN-UML.

Prachanda was elected the Prime Minister as per Article 76 Clause 2 of the Constitution of Nepal, which has a provision for electing a Prime Minister with the support of two or more parties.

As the HoR session began in the early afternoon, embattled Prachanda sharply criticised the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML for striking an alliance “out of fear” rather than shared principles and accused them of pushing the nation toward regression.

Prachanda voiced concerns about potential regression and autocracy, asserting that the NC and the CPN-UML had joined forces as good governance began to take root in the country.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has exuded confidence that he would win the trust vote in the House of Representatives on Monday, days after a coalition partner withdrew its support for his government.

Mr. Prachanda, 69, a former guerilla leader, belongs to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), the third largest party in the House of Representatives (HoR).

He will seek a vote of confidence in Parliament, the fourth within 18 months of taking office, amidst obstruction of the House proceedings by the Opposition Nepali Congress demanding a probe into the alleged involvement of Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane in the misappropriation of cooperative funds.

“There is no doubt that my government will survive the floor test,” Prime Minister Prachanda said at a ruling party’s programme in Kathmandu on Saturday.

“The differences between the ruling alliance and opposition parties will be sorted out through dialogue,” he said.

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. The Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) withdrew its support last week while quitting the coalition government.

This will be Prime Minister Prachanda’s fourth vote of confidence within one and a half years after he assumed the top executive position on December 25, 2022.

The new government requires at least 138 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives to win the vote of trust.

Earlier on March 13, Prime Minister Dahal won his third consecutive vote of confidence.

Last year, Mr. Prachanda faced a floor test after former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli-led CPN-UML withdrew its support to the Prachanda-led government following a rift over backing the main opposition party’s candidate for the presidential poll.

Mr. Prachanda’s support has notably declined in successive confidence votes. In January 2023, he obtained 268 votes, followed by 172 in March of the same year. His support further dwindled to just 157 votes in the third-floor test.

Currently, the ruling coalition 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).

Meanwhile, the major political parties have agreed to form a panel to look into the misappropriation of fund by cooperatives.

The Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N), one of the coalition partners in Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda-led government, has split after a majority of its lawmakers and over two dozen central committee members applied for a new party at the Election Commission of Nepal.

A faction of the JSP-N led by the party’s federal council chair Ashok Rai registered the application for a new party while the party’s chair Deputy Prime Minister Upendra Yadav, who is also Minister for health and population, is on a trip abroad.

Pradip Yadav, a lawmaker of the JSP-N, said that 29 central committee members and seven lawmakers have jointly applied to form a new party. Of the party’s 12 House of Representatives members, seven — Ashok Rai, Sushila Sherstha, Pradip Yadav, Nawal Kishor Sah, Ranju Kumari Jha, Birendra Mahato and Hasina Khan — have supported the new party named ‘Janata Samajbadi Party’ (without the ‘Nepal’ of the mother party).

The Election Commission on May 6 officially recognised the Ashok Rai-led Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) as a new political party.

Party insiders said that Mr. Rai registered the new party at the advice of Prime Minister Prachanda to counter Mr. Yadav, whose relations with the ruling alliance have soured lately. There are reports Mr. Yadav was trying to ally with the Opposition Nepali Congress and the ruling party alliance CPN-Unified Socialist-led by Madhav Kumar Nepal after NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba reportedly offered the Prime Minister’s post to Mr. Yadav to topple the Prachanda-led government.

However, the ruling coalition consisting of the CPN-UML led by K. P. Sharma Oli and the CPN (Maoist Center) has managed to maintain a narrow majority in the Parliament with the latest political developments.

Leaders of the Ashok Rai-led faction claimed they had to revolt against the party leadership as Mr. Yadav was running the party in an autocratic way. “The chair ran the party unilaterally and disrespected lawmakers,” Mr. Pradip said.

Forest and Environment Minister Nawal Kishor Sah Sudi, who also quit the party, claimed that the need for a new outfit was felt after the chair tried to break the ruling coalition.

“We took this decision for the stability of the incumbent government,” Mr. Sudi said. “The party chair (Mr. Yadav) is against this coalition but we will continue to support this government.” “However, the party establishment’s leaders said the party has not split. Just a dissident faction has parted ways,” they claimed.

The split in the JSP-N will not affect the government’s stability at the moment, said Central Member of CPN-Maoist Centre Sunil Kumar Manandhar, who is also the former Minister for Environment amidst speculations that it might affect the coalition government.

“Unless the CPN-Unified Socialist and JSP-N withdraw support from the government there is no need to seek a vote of confidence by the Prachanda government,” Manandhar added. “Lawmakers alone don’t make a party. A majority of party leaders are with us,” said Manish Suman, the party spokesperson.

He added that less than 20% of the 300-strong central committee had left the party. The split follows a long-standing discontent in the party. Only after the pressure from the other faction, had the establishment side been ready to hold its general convention.

Mohammad Istiyak Rai, a leader of the party, had decided to challenge Mr. Yadav, the party chair, in the upcoming general elections. However, the party split before the convention could be held.

Rajendra Shrestha has been named the federal council chair of the yet-to-be-legalised party, which has announced a 31-member central committee. Rai is the chairperson while Renu Yadav has been named the joint chair. The party has four vice-chairpersons, a general secretary, deputy general secretaries and secretaries, among others.

Though the Rai-led faction has sought recognition as a new party under the Political Party Act, there are no clear legal provisions to guide the party formation process after a split in an existing one.

On August 18, 2021, the then Sher Bahadur Deuba government issued an ordinance to amend the Act to ease the split of two parties — the CPN-UML and the Janata Samajbadi Party.

Revising a provision in the Act, which requires the support of 40% of members in the Parliamentary party and the central committee to split the party, the ordinance lowered the bar to 20% in either of the committees.

On August 26 of the same year, Madhav Kumar Nepal of the UML and Mahantha Thakur of the Janata Samajbadi Party registered new parties, the CPN (Unified Socialist) and the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, respectively. Two days later, the ordinance was repealed, having served its purpose.

The provisions amended by the ordinance have become void after it was repealed. Though a bill to reactivate those provisions of the Act has been registered in Parliament, it is yet to be endorsed.

“We have received the application (on new party registration),” said Ram Prasad Bhandari, an election commissioner. “A proper decision will be taken after evaluating the existing legal provisions.” Before the split, in the 275-member federal lower house, the ruling coalition had 154 seats — 16 more than the magic number of 138.

Among them, the CPN-UML has 79 seats (including the Speaker and one suspended lawmaker), the CPN (Maoist Centre) has 32, the Rashtriya Swatantra Party has 21, the JSP-N has 12 seats and the CPN (Unified Socialist) has 10 seats. s

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

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ is seeking to hold his third vote of confidence in Parliament by March 13, days after he forged a new alliance with the CPN-UML, a media report said on Saturday.

The third round of vote of confidence comes after Mr. Prachanda, a former guerilla leader, dumped the Nepali Congress and forged a new alliance with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) – the second-biggest party – led by former premier K.P. Sharma Oli on Monday.

During a parliamentary party meeting held on Saturday, the prime minister discussed the matter with his Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), indicating his readiness to seek a vote of confidence by March 13, Nepalese news portal, khabarhub.com reported.

The CPN (Maoist Centre) also issued a whip to its lawmakers, instructing them not to leave the Kathmandu Valley in the days leading up to the election of the National Assembly Chairman and the anticipated date for Prachanda’s floor test, the report said.

The lower House of Parliament – House of Representatives – has been summoned for a session on March 13.

The party directed its lawmakers that they should be present in Parliament when the prime minister seeks a vote of confidence. According to Nepalese media, the new coalition has enough seats in the 275-member Parliament.

The election for the post of the Chairman of the upper House of Parliament has been scheduled for March 12, according to The Kathmandu Post newspaper.

Mr. Prachanda became the prime minister for the third term with the support of the Nepali Congress on December 25, 2022. His party is the third-largest group in the House of Representatives.

After breaking the alliance with the Nepali Congress –the largest party in the House of Representatives– Prachanda joined hands with Oli, who was regarded as Prachanda’s top critic.

Last year, Mr. Prachanda faced a floor test after the CPN-UML withdrew its support to the Prachanda-led government following a rift over backing the main opposition party’s candidate for the presidential poll.

The CPN-UML secured 78 seats, followed by the Maoist Centre, which got 32 seats.

The RSP, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janata Samajwadi Party and CPN-Unified Socialist won 20, 14, 12 and 10 seats respectively.

In the 2017 election, Prachanda and Oli merged their parties and secured a comfortable majority. Oli became the prime minister, but their partnership ended halfway following differences between them.