Oli Back As Nepal PM As Oppn Fails To Form Govt

Three days after he lost a vote of confidence in parliament, KP Sharma Oli has been reappointed Nepal’s Prime Minister. A notification from President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s office says Oli’s reappointment is in his capacity as leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives as per Article 78(3) of the Constitution of Nepal. The move came after the Opposition failed to form a coalition government by the Thursday 9 pm deadline set by the President.

Hopes dimmed for Oli’s detractors after Sher Bahadur Deuba, leader of Nepali Congress, the main Opposition party, declared that he didn’t have the numbers and was withdrawing from the race. This happened after Oli managed to persuade the dissident faction in his party CPN-UML led by former PM Madhav Kumar Nepal to not resign their parliament seats. Retaining the bloc that has 28 members is crucial for Oli’s party which has 121 seats in Parliament. A party or group needs 136 seats to form a majority government.

Oli now has 30 days to prove his majority on the floor of the House. If he fails, the President will explore the possibility of government formation by the Opposition. If that doesn’t come through, snap polls will be the last resort.