Nepal President calls political parties to form new govt within 7 days

President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Sunday called on all the political parties of Nepal to form a new government within seven days, as Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba discussed power sharing deal with the coalition partner Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'.

The President’s call comes following the submission of a report by the Election Commission of the final results of the election of members of the House of Representatives (HoR) and Provincial Assembly held on November 20.

As no single party got a majority in the HoR election, the President has called for submitting a claim by a member of the HoR who can garner a majority with support from two or more parties, as stipulated in the Article 76 clause 2 of the Constitution.

The deadline for submission of the claim is 5 pm on December 25, according to a statement issued by the Office of the President.

No party in the 275-member House of Representatives has 138 seats required to form a government.

The Nepali Congress (NC) led by Deuba emerged as the single largest party in the election with 89 seats followed by opposition CPN-UML with 78 seats and CPN-Maoist Centre led by Prachanda secured 32 seats.

The newly-formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has 20 seats, Rastriya Prajatantra Party 14, Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) 12 and Janamat Party six seats.

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CPN (Unified Socialist) has 10 seats, Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP) has four, and Nagarik Unmukti Party has three seats. Rastriya Janamorcha and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party have one seat each. There are five independent members in the Lower House.

The Nepali Congress along with the other ruling alliances has the combined strength of 136 seats, two seats short of forming the majority government.

The President’s call to form the new government comes at a time when political parties have engaged themselves in hectic consultations.