Kathmandu: Nepal’s opposition parties have failed to form a new coalition government by the 9 pm Thursday deadline set by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari.
After Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli lost the vote of confidence on Monday, the President, on the same day, called on political parties to form an alternative government. However, they were unable to muster a majority.
We, the opposition parties, have failed to garner the required votes to form the new government, Prakash Sharan Mahat, Joint Secretary General of the Nepali Congress, the primary opposition in the house, said after a party meeting.
As the primary opposition, the Nepali Congress has claimed the leadership of the government and started talks with the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre and the Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal. After the Janata Samajbadi Party refused to support our party President Sher Bahadur Deuba as next Prime Minister, our effort to form the government have come to an end, he added.
With the Nepali Congress failing to form the new government with the support of opposition parties, Oli will continue as the Prime Minister as the leader of the largest political party or will form a coalition government with the Janata Samajbadi Party.
The third largest party in the house, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre, also concluded that chances of forming the government had come to an end after the Janata Samajbadi Party failed to extend support to Deuba as Prime Minister.
After the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre withdrew the support to the Oli government, he, as per the constitutional provision, proposed to seek a vote of confidence but lost.
Meanwhile, Oli remained busy in political manoeuvres and talks with his party leaders and the dissidents, including Madhav Kumar Nepal. Oli also withdrew the action taken against lawmakers of his Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist on Thursday morning in order to stop them from supporting Deuba as Prime Minister.
On the other hand, Oli was also cultivating one section of the Janata Samajbadi Party to remain in power.Ā President Bhandari is preparing to re-appoint Oli as Prime Minister.