INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, JULY 29As the time to form a new government in Koshi province nears, the current ruling alliance partners
have intensified their efforts to muster simple majority to form the government.
Writ against Koshi govt now under full
Koshi Province CM's appointment questioned at Nepali Congress CWC
The governor of Koshi Province has given the parties
until August 1 to form the government.A few days ago, the Supreme Court nullified the appointment of Nepali Congress lawmaker Uddhav Thapa
as chief minister of Koshi province
Thapa had formed the government with the support of Koshi Province Assembly Speaker Baburam Gautam, but the SC ruled that the speaker's
support was against the constitution
The SC also ruled that the constitution envisaged neutral role for the speaker and he was not supposed to sign any lawmaker's bid to form
the government, except in helping break the tie in the House on legislative issues.
The ruling parties' top leaders held
discussion twice in Kathmandu today but failed to reach a conclusion
There were media reports that the ruling parties might tell the speaker to resign so that they could have clear majority to form the
government.Nepali Congress lawmaker in Koshi Province Uddhav Thapa, who is the caretaker chief minister, said that it was up to Speaker
Baburam Gautam to decide whether he should resign.CPN-Maoist Centre General Secretary Dev Prasad Gurung said that parties in Koshi Province
Assembly would themselves decide on the formation of the new government there.Anybody desiring to form the government in Koshi province,
needs support of 47 members.The current ruling alliance has only 46 members in the 93-memberAssembly
Rastriya Prajatantra Party has six seats in the assembly but it has so far not extended support to the ruling alliance.Uddhav Thapa told THT
that he would abide by the ruling parties' decision
Thapa has come to Kathmandu for consultation.Thapa said the ruling alliance also held discussions with RPP leaders in their attempt to seek
RPP support in Koshi province.RPP Parliamentary Party Leader in Koshi province Bhakti Prasad Sitaula said the ruling alliance had approached
his party seeking support to form the government and added that the possibility of supporting the alliance could not be ruled out, but that
would depend on whether there was congruence among all the parties on issues of nationality, promotion of democracy, good governance and
service delivery.Sitaula said his party lawmakers' support would also depend on how the ruling parties sought to forge partnership with the
RPP till the next PA elections
We cannot support any party just because there is a risk of dissolution of the House, Situala added.A version of this article appears in the
print on July 30, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com