CPN (UML) parliamentary party (PP) leader Hikmat Karki has been appointed as the Chief Minister of Province 1.
Province Chief Parshuram Khapung appointed Karki as the chief minister of Province 1 in line with Article 168 (2) of the constitution amidst a ceremony today.
Karki had submitted the claim for the post with the backing of the 60 lawmakers within the given deadline.
Those who supported in Karki’s claim for the post are 40 lawmakers from the UML, 13 from the Maoist Center, six from Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), and one from the Janata Samajbadi Party.
Prime Minister and Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli reached the agreement on the leadership of the province on Sunday morning.
According to the agreement, the UML will lead the provincial government for the first half of the five-year term and the Maoist Center will take the helm in the second half of the term.
Former Minister for Internal Affairs and Law, Karki had been elected as lawmaker to the Province Assembly of Province 1 from Jhapa-5.
He is a standing committee member of the UML. He is considered close to UML Chairman Oli.
Governor Khapung had called on the parties to submit claim for the post of chief minister on January 1.
In the 93-member province assembly, 47 lawmakers are required to form the government. The UML has 40 seats, Maoist Center has 13, RPP 6 and JSP has 1 seat.
Similarly, Nepali Congress has 29 seats and CPN (Unified Socialist) has four seats in the province.
