"New govt can be formed under Article 76 (2) without taking the pain of replacing the PP leader"
KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 26
The Nepal Communist Party (NCP) faction led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal wants to remove KP Sharma Oli as prime minister, but it is easier said than done.
The easiest way could be to remove Oli as parliamentary party leader, but according to the NCP statute the parliamentary party meeting should be called by Subas Chandra Nembang, who is the deputy PP leader. Nembang, who is close to Oli, will never call any such meeting.
The Dahal-Nepal faction can also remove Oli by passing a no-trust motion against him in the Parliament, but they will also have to name the next prime minister if they embark on that route.
Without the Nepali Congress's support, the Dahal-Nepal faction cannot pass a no-trust motion against the PM. The NC, meanwhile, has not yet decided which NCP faction will it support.
National Assembly lawmaker Ram Narayan Bidari, who is close to Dahal and Nepal, said lawmakers of the Nepal-Dahal faction who are in majority in the party would first call the PP meeting and remove Oli as PP leader.
They expect President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to appoint the new parliamentary party leader as the new PM. But in case that doesn't happen, the faction will register a notrust motion against the PM in the Parliament.
Senior Advocate Chandra Kanta Gyawali, however, said the NCP need not follow the party statute to call the parliamentary party meeting to remove Oli as PP leader because his government was no longer a government under Article 76 (1) of the constitution. He argued that the Oli-led government became a caretaker government after his December 20 move dissolving the House of Representatives.
Gyawali said the Supreme Court reinstated the HoR, not the Oli-led government.
Gyawali said the Dahal-Nepal faction could form a new government under Article 76 (2) without taking the pain of replacing the PP leader.
However, Senior Advocate Purna Man Shakya pointed out another hurdle in removing Oli from the top post if the NCP did not formally split at the time of registering the notrust motion. "When a notrust motion is passed, ideally the person proposed as the next prime minister in the notrust motion should be appointed the new PM, but since NCP is the largest party with clear majority, there will be a technical problem in appointing that person as PM under Article 76 (2)," said Shakya.
As per the provisions of Article 76, first an attempt must be made to elect the new PM under 76 (1) which applies when one party has won a clear majority. But when no single party has clear majority, a coalition government must be formed as per Article 76 (2).
The Election Commission's delay in deciding which of the two factions is the authentic NCP is also complicating the Dahal-Nepal faction's plan to remove Oli.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokharel, who is close to Oli, today said at a public programme that Oli was ready to face any challenge in the House. He also dared the Dahal-Nepal faction to move a no-trust motion against the PM.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 27, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
