President Bhandari calls political parties to form a majority government by Thursday

KATHMANDU, May 10: Hours after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli lost the trust vote in the House of Representatives (HoR), President Bidya Devi Bhandari has called the political parties to stake their claims for the formation of a new majority government as per the Article 76 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal. 

The political parties are asked to present the name of the new prime minister to succeed PM Oli by 9 PM on Thursday (May 13). 

The Office of the President, issuing a statement on Monday evening, stated President Bhandari called the political parties to present the name of a member of the lower house of parliament --- HoR--- who can command a majority with the support of two or more marites representing the HoR, to be appointed as the prime minister.

Earlier, three parties --- Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Center) and Janta Samajbadi Party (JSP) --- urged the President to initiate a process to form a majority government as per Article 76 (2), shortly after PM Oli failed to secure vote of confidence in parliament. 

PM Oli managed to secure only 93 votes in Monday’s trust vote, a way less than the required 136 votes. A total of 124 votes were cast against him while 15 other lawmakers opted to stay neutral during the voting. As many as 232 lawmakers were present during Monday’s voting.