A petition filed by the leader of CPN (UML) and outgoing Chief Minister Hikmat Karki against the formation of the Koshi Province government is sub-judice in the Supreme Court.
Against this backdrop, the UML Central Secretariat has demanded that the Koshi government be dissolved.
The Central Secretariat meeting of the UML held at the residence of Chairman KP Sharma Oli in Balkot on Saturday (July 15) demanded the dissolution of the government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thapa.
Provincial Chief Parshuram Khapung appointed Congress leader Thapa as Chief Minister on July 6.
The support of 47 people is required to form the government in the 93-member Koshi Province assembly. To collect that, Baburam Gautam, the elected Speaker of the Provincial Assembly from the Maoist Center, also signed in favor of Congress leader Thapa. And the controversy broke out after the head of the state recognized the signature of even the Speaker.
The day after Thapa was appointed as the Chief Minister, the outgoing Chief Minister Hikmat Karki had filed a writ against him in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has also issued a show cause notice against the formation of the government, instructing the province government not to take any decisions that will have a long-term impact.
UML, which has lost the leadership of all governments from the center to the provinces, has made such a demand with a plan to take the leadership of the government, at least in Koshi Province.
Baburam Gautam of the Maoist Center is the Speaker of the 93-member Provincial Assembly. Except during the decisive vote, he is not allowed to vote for or against.
UML leader Karki was dismissed from the post of Chief Minister after failing to get a vote of confidence in the polls held on June 30.
January 8, Karki became the Chief Minister from the UML-Maoist Center alliance. The Karki-led government collapsed after the Maoist Center withdrew its support.
Then on July 6, Uddhav Thapa, the parliamentary party leader of the Congress Province Assembly, became the Chief Minister from the Congress-Maoist Center alliance.
However, the Congress-Maoist alliance does not have the numbers to prove a majority in the provincial assembly. There are 46 members of the opposition alliance in the Koshi Province Assembly, 40 from the UML and 6 from the RPP.
The ruling coalition has 47 members including 29 from the Congress, 13 from the Maoist Center, 4 from the CPN (Unified Socialist) and 1 from the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP).
However, since the Speaker belongs to the ruling coalition, he cannot vote during the vote of confidence. So, the actual number with this alliance is 46. Given this situation, as long as the UML-RPP alliance remains 'intact', Chief Minister Thapa is unlikely to get a vote of confidence.
Given this political scenario, UML leader Karki gets the opportunity to become the Chief Minister again.
Article 168 (3) of the Constitution of Nepal clearly stipulates that if the Chief Minister from a party without an absolute majority fails to receive a vote of confidence within 30 days, the Chief Minister will be removed from office and the leader of the parliamentary party with the most members in the provincial assembly will be appointed as the Chief Minister by the provincial head.
According to this constitutional provision, Chief Minister Thapa must take the vote of confidence in the provincial assembly by August 4. If he does not receive a vote of confidence, he will also be dismissed. And, as the leader of the parliamentary party of the largest party, Karki of UML will automatically be appointed as the Chief Minister.
However, UML is not in a position to be patient until then. This is the reason why the UML central secretariat hastily spoke when a writ was filed in the Supreme Court itself and the Supreme Court has already issued an interim order instructing the newly formed government not to take any crucial decisions.
If Chief Minister Thapa does not get the vote on August 4, the politics of Koshi province will slowly start moving towards the mid-term elections.
If Thapa failed to receive a vote of confidence, Karki will become the Chief Minister as the leader of the largest party in the Parliamentary Party. But if he also fails to get a vote of confidence, a new Chief Minister is elected according to Article 168(5) of the Constitution.
Likewise, Article 168 (7) of the Constitution has a provision that if the Chief Minister appointed in accordance with Article 168 (5) fails to receive a vote of confidence, the Province Chief shall, on the recommendation of the Chief Minister, dissolve the Provincial Assembly and set the election date to be held within six months.
However, due to the growing influence of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, none of the MPs in the Koshi Provincial Assembly are currently in favor of the mid-term elections. This is the reason why UML is afraid that any RPP MP will "cross the floor" and give a vote of confidence to Chief Minister Thapa.
There are currently 46 provincial assembly members in favor of the ruling coalition in the provincial assembly. Even if only one RPP MP crosses the floor, Chief Minister Thapa will win the vote of confidence. Hence, UML's attempt to oust Chief Minister Thapa through legal means and return Karki to power is seen before he seeks a vote of confidence.
UML has adopted a strategy to oust Chief Minister Thapa before asking him for a vote of confidence.
