Oli takes office after being reappointed as Nepali PM

2021-05-14 11:35:59 GMT2021-05-14 19:35:59(Beijing Time) Xinhua English

KATHMANDU, May 14 (Xinhua) -- KP Sharma Oli took the oath of office on Friday afternoon after being reappointed as Prime Minister of Nepal a day earlier, as other parties failed to form a coalition government to take his place.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered the oath to Oli and 24 ministers in his Cabinet. Oli is keeping all the ministers after he got reappointed as head of a minority government since other parties had failed to garner a majority of support from lawmakers to form a new government by Thursday evening as set by the president.

"President Bhandari administered the oath to KP Sharma Oli and other ministers from his Cabinet," Bhesh Raj Adhikari, chief personal secretary to the president, told Xinhua.

Bhandari on Monday evening called political parties for the formation of a coalition government by 21:00 on Thursday after Oli lost a vote of trust in parliament. He got only 93 votes, short of 43 in the 271-member House of Representatives.

The Nepali Congress party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and a section of the Janata Samajbadi Party failed to garner a majority of votes to form a new government despite a series of negotiations.

As a result, Oli was tapped for the third time to head the government as he is the parliamentary party leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) which holds 121 seats in the lower house.

Oli will have to win a vote of trust in the house within 30 days after taking office as per the Constitution.

Political experts say combating the raging COVID-19 should be the priority of the new government and it is a major challenge as well, as the country is facing a shortage of medical oxygen and hospital beds, among others, in the face of a surging number of coronavirus infections and deaths. Enditem

| PRINT | RSS