President Bhandari calls political parties to form a government within 7 days

President Bidya Devi Bhandari has called the parties for the formation of the government within seven days.

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.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari has given political parties seven days to form the next government as per Article 76(2) of the Constitution. 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 25 December, according to the press release issued by the office of the President.

At least 138 votes are required to secure a majority in the 275-member HoR. Nepali Congress, the largest party in the HoR has secured 89 seats, followed by CPN-UML with 78 seats and CPN- Maoist Center secured the thid position with 32 seats.

New group Rastriya Swotantra Party has 20 seats, Rastriya Prajatantra Party 14, Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) 12 and Janamat Party six seats. 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. Nepali Congress along with the other ruling alliances has the combined strength of 136 seats, two seats short of forming majority government.

The President’s call to form a new government comes at a time when political parties have engaged themselves in hectic consultations to form a new government. Prime Minister and NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba met CPN-MC chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” at PM’s official residence Baluwatar on Saturday during which they discussed about formation of the new government and power sharing among others, said party sources.