K P Sharma Oli is poised to return as Nepal's Prime Minister after the current PM, Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda,' lost a crucial trust vote in Parliament on Friday.
This political shake-up follows Prachanda's four previous successful bids to retain power amid the Himalayan nation's turbulent political landscape.
On Friday, Oli, the Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), formally staked his claim to form a new majority government.
He presented his case to President Ramchandra Paudel, backed by 165 lawmakers—77 from his own party and 88 from the Nepali Congress.
Despite fringe parties like the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) and others showing support for a Congress-UML coalition, Oli's claim was based solely on UML and Congress support.
“We have submitted our claim to the President. The appointment decision now lies with him,” stated Ramesh Lekhak, chief whip of the Congress party.
Prachanda, leader of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-MC), lost his position just over 18 months after his appointment.
The Oli-led CPN-UML had recently withdrawn support from Prachanda’s government, opting for a power-sharing agreement with the largest party in the House—the Nepali Congress (NC), led by Sher Bahadur Deuba.
The trust vote on Friday saw Prachanda failing to secure the necessary 138 votes, managing only 63 in the 275-member House of Representatives.
A significant 194 lawmakers voted against him. This marked the end of Prachanda's tenure, which began on December 25, 2022.
This was Prachanda's fifth floor test since becoming Prime Minister. His first confidence vote on January 10, 2023, garnered strong support with 268 votes.
The second, on March 20, 2023, after the UML-Maoist alliance broke, saw him securing 172 votes. His third confidence vote, held on March 13, 2024, after forming a new alliance with the UML, fetched him 157 votes.
Following the JSP split, the fourth vote on May 21, 2024, also saw him secure 157 votes without opposition.
Oli, who is expected to become Prime Minister for the fourth time, is recognized for his pro-Beijing stance. His challenge will be to maintain balanced relations with both India and China.
The India-Nepal relationship was particularly strained in 2020 when Oli, during his previous tenure, published a new political map of Nepal including three Indian territories—Limpiyadhura, Kalapani, and Lipulekh.
This move was seen as an attempt to deflect domestic pressure and solidify his leadership.
The President has set a Sunday evening deadline for political parties to stake a claim for forming the new government.
“President Paudel has called on members of the House of Representatives to show a majority support for the post of prime minister with backing from two or more political parties,” stated an official release.
The NC holds 89 seats in the House of Representatives, while the CPN-UML holds 78, giving them a combined strength of 167—well above the required 138 for a majority.
Deuba has already endorsed Oli as the next Prime Minister per a seven-point agreement between the two parties, which outlines a shared premiership over the remaining parliamentary term.
Oli will serve as Prime Minister for the first 18 months, followed by Deuba.
Nepal’s political scene has seen 13 different governments in the past 16 years, highlighting its fragile and tumultuous nature.
Reacting sharply to the new NC-UML alliance, Prachanda accused them of forming their coalition out of fear rather than shared principles.
“If the NC and the UML were united by common beliefs or goals, I would not be concerned. Instead, they are bound by a fear of good governance,” he stated.
Prachanda questioned the legitimacy of the public mandate behind this alliance, warning of potential regression and autocracy.
He stressed that in a healthy democracy, the main opposition party should not form the government, accusing the NC and UML of pushing the nation towards regression.
In defence, NC Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak stressed on his party’s commitment to upholding the constitution and democracy.
“Our party has a historical legacy of aligning the most prominent anti-democrats in democracy's history. We should refrain from making baseless comments,” he remarked.
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, also questioned the overnight agreement between the NC and UML.
“We will only understand who is being protected under the guise of safeguarding the Constitution once the agreement is made public. However, my party and I do not accept it as a genuine effort to safeguard the Constitution,” he asserted.
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