CPN (UML) parliamentary party leader Hikmat Karki has been appointed as the Chief Minister of Koshi Province for the second time.
He was appointed as the Chief Minister by the Province Chief Parashuram Khapung in line with the decision of the Supreme Court on Thursday.
Karki has taken the oath of office and secrecy. Province Chief Khapung administered the oath to Chief Minister Karki amidst a ceremony held at the Office of Province Chief a while ago.
Karki is making preparations to appoint Menyangbo as the Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy. This was the ministry in the government led by Menyangbo in the Karki-led government.
Similarly, Ministry of Tourism, Forest and Environment is being assigned to Panchkarna while the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development to Ekraj.
Proportional province assembly member Sirjana Rai from Bhojpur will be given the responsibility of the Minister of State for Social Development, sources have said. He has not appointed a minister from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) so far.
Supreme Court on Thursday had ordered Province Chief Parshuram Khapung to appoint Karki as leader of the largest party in line with Article 168 (3) of the Constitution.
The order was issued by a full bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Sapana Malla Pradhan, Kumar Chudal and Nahakul Subedi.
In the 93-member Koshi Province Assembly, the UML has 40 members, including the deputy speaker, which is the largest.
Now, Karki will have to take a vote of confidence in the state assembly within 30 days. In that case, since the Deputy Speaker cannot vote, only 39 MPs can be in favor of Karki.
There are 29 MPs from Congress, 13 from Maoist Center, 6 from RPP, 4 from Unified Socialist and 1 from Janata Samajbadi Party in the province assembly.
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