Oli-led coalition government in Nepal to be sworn in tomorrow
K P Sharma Oli, set to become Nepal’s new Prime Minister, on Saturday held consultations with his alliance partner Nepali Congress in preparing the list of ministers to be inducted into the new coalition government that is likely to be sworn in on Monday.
President Ram Chandra Paudel is expected to appoint Oli, 72, as the new Prime Minister of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML)-Nepali Congress (NC) coalition on Sunday.
“However, the President is likely to administer the oath to the new Prime Minister and other members of the Cabinet on Monday morning. A small Cabinet is likely to be announced on Monday before the oath-taking ceremony starts,” said sources close to the NC and UML.
This comes after incumbent Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ failed to win a trust vote in Parliament, on Friday.
Late on Friday night, Oli staked his claim to become the next Prime Minister with the backing of NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba and submitted the signatures of 165 House of Representatives (HoR) members — 77 from his party and 88 from the NC — to form the government under Article 76-2 of the Constitution.
Out of a total of 21 ministries, the Nepali Congress will get nine and the UML eight plus the
post of Prime Minister, a source close to Oli said.
“Key positions such as Home, Foreign, Finance and Energy will be divided between NC and UML. Nepali Congress is likely to get the portfolio of Home while the Finance will go to the UML,” the source said.
On Saturday, CPN-UML held a high-level meeting to discuss the future course of action and finalise the names of ministers to be included in the Cabinet.