Nepal: KP Sharma Oli to be appointed as PM today, coalition partners finalising ministerial list

KATHMANDU: KP Sharma Oli is set to become Nepal's new Prime Minister, on Sunday evening, setting him up for his fourth prime ministerial term. Meanwhile, the Oli's Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) and Nepali Congress (NC) coalition are finalising ministerial list ministers. Oli, the CPN-UML chairman held consultations with his alliance partner, the Nepali Congress, in preparing the list of ministers to be inducted into the new coalition government. Nepal President Ram Chandra Paudel is expected to appoint Oli, 72, as the new Prime Minister.

Paudel on Friday evening had called the political parties in the Nepali parliament to stake a claim for the Prime Minister as Pushpa Kamal Dahal lost a confidence motion on Friday. The President had called for the claim of stake as per the Article 76 (2) of the constitution. "With the expiration of the deadline set by the President that ends at 5 PM (NST) today, President will appoint CPN-UML Chairman, KP Sharma Oli as the next Prime Minister. No other parties have staked the claim as of now and majority is claimed by UML Chair Oli so he will be appointed as Prime Minister. Also, the procedure for the oath as Prime Minister also would be initiated following it," Kiran Pokhrel, press advisor to President confirmed ANI over phone. Oli and Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba jointly signed an application for the President to appoint the UML chief the new prime minister on Friday evening right after the results of vote of confidence. Oli, with the backing of the Nepali Congress and smaller parties on Friday, had submitted signatures of 165 lawmakers claiming majority support in the parliament for the Prime Ministership. As Oli owns the majority, no other parties are obvious to challenge Oli for the post. The Constitution of Nepal mandates a Prime Minister to cross a majority of 138 in the 275 strong House of Representatives to take over as the Prime Minister. Oli became the Prime Minister for the first time in October 2015 soon after the promulgation of the constitution that year and remained in power until August 2016. Right after the general election in 2017, Oli, who was able to usher nationalist sentiment amongst the people siding with China formed a government and remained in power from February 2018 to May 2021. Oli again was appointed as Prime Minister under the constitutional provision of 76 (3) from May 2021 to July 2021 after staking claim as the parliamentary leader of the largest party in parliament. While in power for about three years, Oli had dissolved the parliament twice, which was reinstated by the Supreme Court issuing a mandamus. As Oli prepares to take office for the fourth time, the largest coalition member in the new alliance, the Nepali Congress has finalised the criteria to pick the ministerial candidates. A central work execution committee meeting held on Saturday finalised the criteria to choose the ministers from the party, informed party spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat. As per the sources, Prakash Man Singh will lead the party on board the government from the Nepali Congress while Bishnu Poudel from UML will take oath as Deputy Prime Ministers after Oli's swearing-in ceremony. As per the party sources from the Oli-led UML, Poudel will be taking over the Finance Ministry. Congress sources confirmed that Singh will be taking over as Minister of Defence. The Nepali Congress and CPN-UML (Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist) has signed an agreement on July 2 to divide 9 and 8 ministries respectively on board the council of ministry. "Both the parties are in close coordination and working on to finalize the first round of ministries. Discussions are being held to finalize as many as 15 new ministers to induct into to be formed new council of ministers on Monday itself," sources from both the parties confirmed. Nepal's former First Lady and the only billionaire in the country is also in the list of possible ministers. As per the Congress party sources, Arzu Rana Deuba, the former first lady and spouse of Former Prime Minister and President of Nepali Congress is pinning for Foreign Ministry. "Party is about to agree to let the former first lady to take the Foreign Ministry provided her interest and diplomatic connections she has with South. Binod Chaudhary, the sole billionaire of Nepal is also in the list of the possible ministers," a senior party leader fromthe Congress confirmed ANI. Along with former first lady Deuba, Chaudhary and Singh, Congress is holding discussion about sending Ramesh Lekhak, Jeevan Pariyar, Ajay Chaurasiya, Chandra Bhandari, Pradeep Poudel, Dipak Giri, Dipak Khadka, Ain Bahadur Shahi, Hridayaram Thani, Arjun Narsingh KC, Ramnath Adhikari, Kishor Singh Rathour, and Tejulal Chaudhary are among the likely ministerial candidates from the Congress. The CPN-UML on the other hand has given authority to party chair Oli to choose the ministers. UML leaders themselves are not sure about who will be the ministers from the party except Bishnu Poudel who is taking over as the Finance Minister. As per the July 2 deal between Congress chief Deuba and UML chairman, Oli, the two parties will lead the government on a rotational basis until the next general elections in 2027. But, the deal has not been made public till date.