Ruling parties could avoid snap poll in Koshi by offering Speaker's post to the oppn
Following the Supreme Court's verdict quashing the appointment of Uddhav Thapa of the Nepali Congress (NC) as the chief minister of Koshi Province on July 27, the ruling partners in the province are mulling over to get Koshi Province's Speaker Baburam Gautam resign from office to secure a majority in the 93-member Assembly. Thapa was elected chief minister of the province on July 6 with the support of Speaker Gautam, whose signature was decisive in proving the majority in the Koshi Province Assembly.
However, a full bench of the Supreme Court nullified the Speaker's support to elect Thapa as the chief minister, saying that a Speaker cannot extend his/her support unless required to break a tie on legislative issues. In the 93-member Assembly, the ruling NC, CPN-Maoist Centre, CPN-Unified Socialist Party and Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal have 46 seats combined.
On the other hand, the CPN-UML and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) hold an equal number of seats. As Gautam was elected Speaker on behalf of the CPN-Maoist Centre, he could not back any candidate for the post of chief minister. But he violated the constitutional provision, hence his signature in support of Thapa to get elected as chief minister was nullified by the Supreme Court.
As the apex court has directed the Assembly to elect a new chief minister within a week from the date of its verdict, the governor of the Koshi Province has given the political parties until August 1 to form the government on majority basis with support from two or more than two parties.
The ruling parties' top leaders held discussions twice in Kathmandu on Saturday to find ways to secure majority votes in the Assembly. As per media reports, the ruling partners also discussed the possibility of having Speaker Gautam resign from his post so that they could secure majority of the votes in the Assembly. It is not clear whether Gautam would tender his resignation to pave the way for Thapa's election as the chief minister. Even if Gautam puts in his paper, the government will be reduced to a minority shortly after electing the Speaker from among the ruling partners.
In this situation, the RPP has a crucial role in making or breaking the majority government in Koshi Province. However, the RPP has not given any indication to extend its support to the ruling parties. In case the ruling parties fail to form a majority government this time, the CPN-UML should be allowed to form a minority government as the largest party, subject to proving its majority within 30 days. If the UML also fails to prove its majority within the deadline, there is no option other than to go for a snap poll in the province.
However, the ruling parties could find a middle path to avoid the mid-term election by offering the Speaker's post to the opposition parties. By offering the Speaker's post to the opposition, the ruling parties could have 47 seats intact in the Assembly. But time is running out for both the ruling and opposition parties to find a win-win situation. Holding a mid-term election in a province would not augur well for the ruling parties given their waning popularity in the centre and other provinces. The recently held by-elections in three constituencies should give them a chilling reminder of how they suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of a newly-formed party.
Tiger conservation
Just like the endangered one-horned rhinoceros, the conservation of the Bengal tiger has been a huge success in Nepal. As per its commitment made in 2010 at the Tiger Summit, attended by 13 countries, Nepal doubled the population of the big cat by 2022 to reach 355. All those who were involved in its conservation, namely, the Ministry of Forest and Environment, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation and the security forces, among others, deserve a pat on the back. Poaching of the tiger was prevented largely due to their efforts even when its conservation proved difficult in neighbouring countries.
However, the success seen in the conservation of the tiger comes with challenges, namely, the growing number of human-wildlife conflicts, which is a matter of great concern. With heavy pressure on the jungles from the growing human population for their livelihoods, such conflicts are inevitable. Dwindling prey species in the tigers' habitat is another problem in the conservation of the tiger. Should the tiger venture out into human settlements in search of prey, this would create terror among the inhabitants. The stakeholders will thus need to focus on these aspects as the tiger population keeps growing.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 31, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
