KATHMANDU, AUGUST 1

Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader of Koshi Province Uddhav Thapa has been appointed chief minister of Koshi Province for the second time in a span of 27 days.

Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader Uddhav Thapa, whose post was quashed after the apex court verdict, has been appointed chief minister again six days after the order.

The province head's office released a statement saying Thapa was appointed by province Chief Parshuram Khapung on the basis of signatures of 47 parliamentarians presented by the coalition. Thapa was the only contender for the chief minister's position.

He became chief minister for the second time through a new process after the Supreme Court on Thursday quashed his appointment as CM a month ago saying it was 'contrary to the Constitution of Nepal'.

Baburam Gautam, who resigned as speaker of Koshi Province Assembly just before Thapa staked his claim today, has lost the status of speaker and become a member of the Province Assembly representing the CPN-Maoist Centre.

In the 93-member Koshi Province Assembly, 29 of Nepali Congress, 14 of CPN-Maoist Centre, four of CPN (Unified Socialist) and one seat of Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal have been added to reach the required 47 votes for majority.

On the other hand, the largest party in the Koshi PA is CPN-UML with 40 MPs and Rastriya Prajatantra Party with 6 MPs. Both have a total of 46 votes.

After the speaker's resignation, UML MP and Deputy Speaker Srijana Danuwar will preside over the Assembly as speaker. Now there is a provision that she cannot show any favouritism.

With this, the total of 46 votes of UML-RPP has decreased by one and is now 45.

As no single party has majority in the Koshi government, Thapa became the chief minister under the provisions of Article 168 (2) of the Constitution, which states that 'a member of the Province Assembly who can obtain majority with the support of two or more parties represented in the PA can be appointed chief minister'.

Meanwhile, questions have been arising over the trust vote.

Thapa who failed to secure the trust vote has another challenge ahead. However, he said a vote of confidence will be taken at an appropriate time 'The coalition government is hugely thankful to Baburam Gautam.

We will be able to run the government smoothly for four years now. And as for the floor test, we need not worry. We have majority again due to former speaker Baburam Gautam. Hence, we will go for the vote of confidence after discussing with coalition partners,' CM Thapa told THT.

When THT asked about Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal's issue with the nomenclature of Koshi based on identity, he said, 'We have thought of it and have made it a major agenda to be discussed in the coalition meeting before the trust vote. Similarly, we have also planned to give a proper place to Baburam Gautam for his contribution and sacrifice in the formation of the ruling coalition government in Koshi.'

Likewise, former speaker of Koshi Baburam Gautam said, 'A province cannot exist without a government.

In such a situation, a responsible person like me must fulfil his obligations to the country rather than hold the position.

Therefore, with my own conscience I resigned from the speaker's post .'

A version of this article appears in the print on August 2, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.