Parties told to make claim for govt formation by July 6

IATAHARI: Province Chief of Koshi Province, Parshuram Khapung, has invited political parties to make a claim for government formation within five days.

Issuing a statement, the Office of the Province Chief has invited political parties in the Koshi Province Assembly to make a claim for the government formation as part of Article 168 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal.

This means parties have until July 6 to make the claim for government formation.

Chief Minister Hikmat Bahadur Karki was relieved from the post on Friday as he failed to get a vote of confidence.

UML has 40 members in the provincial assembly, while its ally RPP has six. Similarly, Nepali Congress (NC) has 29, Maoist Center has 13 (including the Speaker), CPN (Unified Socialist) has four, and JSP has one.

One needs to have the support of 47 members to make a claim for government formation in Koshi Province.

Although NC, Maoist Center, Unified Socialist, and JSP have said that they would make a claim for government formation, they have not forged a consensus on who will lead the government first.