Krishna Chandra Pokharel appointed Gandaki chief minister

POKHARA, June 12: Gandaki Province Chief Sita Kumari Poudel has appointed Krishna Chandra Nepali Pokharel as the chief minister of the province. 

As the deadline to stake claim for new government formation expired at 3PM on Saturday, Pokharel, parliamentary party leader of the Nepali Congress (NC) was appointed as the chief minister as per the Article 168 (5) of the constitution. 

He staked claim for the government on Friday with the support of 31 members of the 60-member Gandaki Province Assembly. Along with the NC’s 15, CPN (Maoist Center)’s 11, Rastriya Janamorcha (RJM)’s 2 of 3 and 2 of Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) signed in the letter, submitted to Province Chief Poudel, to support Pokharel as the new chief minister. Similarly, an independent lawmaker also extended his support to CM Pokharel.   As many as 31 provincial assembly members including Nepali reached the Office of Province Chief in person and submitted the claim on Friday. 

Despite losing a trust motion on Thursday, caretaker chief minister of Gandaki Province, Prithvi Subba Gurung alo staked his claim for the formation of a new government in the province, on Saturday.. 

Gurung reached the Office of Province Chief and submitted a letter to Governor Poudel claiming that he has the support of members of the ruling CPN-UML, Rastriya Janamorcha (RJM) and Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP). 

Pokharel will now have to win a confidence motion within the 30 days of the date of his appointment as per Article 168 (6).