Kathmandu, January 21

The process of appointing chief ministers and electing speakers and deputy speakers began today as members of provincial assemblies took the oath of office and secrecy.

According to Article 168 (8) of the constitution, the chief minister of a province must be appointed within 35 days of the announcement of the provincial assembly.

According to Article 182 of the constitution, the speaker and the deputy speaker of an assembly will have to be elected within 15 days of the first meeting of the provincial assembly.

As per constitutional provisions, governors can elect chief ministers immediately in case a political party has clear majority in the assembly.

Article 168 (1) of the constitution stipulates that the governor will appoint leader of the parliamentary party commanding majority in the PA as the chief minister. Article 168 (2) states that in case no party has a clear majority in the PA, the governor shall appoint a member of the PA who can command majority with the support of two or more parties represented in the assembly as the chief minister.

Article 168 (3) stipulates that in case the chief minister cannot be appointed under Clause (2) within 30 days of announcement of the final results of PA election or the CM so appointed fails to secure a vote of confidence under Clause (4), the governor shall appoint the leader of the parliamentary party that has the highest number of members in the assembly as the chief minister.

The chief minister appointed under articles 168 (1) and (2) will have to obtain a vote of confidence from the PA within 30 days of his/her appointment.

On the recommendation of the chief minister, governors will constitute the Council of Ministers comprising not more than 20 per cent of the total number of members of the assembly, including the CM, in accordance with the principle of inclusion, from among members of the PA.

As per the constitutional provision, the speaker or the deputy speaker of PA will have to be a woman, and the two should be from different parties. As per Article 183 of the constitution, the governor shall summon a session of the PA within 20 days of the announcement of the final results of the election to the assembly. Thereafter, the governor shall summon other sessions from time to time, provided that the interval between two consecutive sessions does not exceed six months.