Madhesh Province's third Chief Minister of this parliamentary term submitting his resignation to the Province Chief.
KATHMANDU: The process to form a new government in Madhesh Province has begun after Chief Minister Jitendra Sonal resigned on Saturday before facing a floor test in the provincial assembly.
Province Chief Sumitra Subedi Bhandari accepted Sonal’s resignation the same evening, according to her personal secretary Tika Ram Bhattarai. He said consultations were underway for the next step and that the Province Chief was likely to call parties on Sunday to initiate the formation of a new government.
“Chief Minister Sonal’s resignation has been accepted. The Province Chief is taking legal advice, and a call for government formation is expected tomorrow,” Bhattarai said.
Sonal, a provincial lawmaker from the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP) Nepal, announced his resignation during Saturday’s assembly session after it became clear he would not secure a vote of confidence. Later in the evening, he submitted his resignation letter to Province Chief Bhandari.
Sonal had been appointed Chief Minister on October 15 under Article 168 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal, 2015, which allows the Province Chief to appoint as chief minister a member of the assembly who can command a majority with the support of two or more parties when no single party holds a clear majority. He had assumed office with the backing of Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) Nepal, Janamat Party, CPN (Maoist Center), and CPN (Unified Socialist). However, he stepped down just 22 days later after failing to consolidate majority support.
With three consecutive governments — led by JSP’s Saroj Kumar Yadav, Janamat’s Satish Kumar Singh, and LSP’s Jitendra Sonal — all failing to win confidence votes, the Province Chief is now expected to invoke Article 168 (3). The provision authorizes the appointment of a chief minister from the largest party in the provincial assembly if no government formed under Article 168 (2) can secure a vote of confidence.
If this provision is applied, CPN-UML’s parliamentary party leader Saroj Yadav will be appointed the next Chief Minister. UML currently has 25 seats in the 107-member assembly, including the Speaker. One member, however, is suspended.
Nepali Congress (NC) and JSP Nepal have 22 and 18 seats, respectively, while Janamat Party has 13. Two of them have now joined Janaswaraj Party. LSP Nepal (8), Unified Socialist (7), Nagarik Unmukti (1), Sanghiya Samajbadi (1) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (1) at the other parties in the province assembly.
Political parties are already lobbying the Province Chief over which constitutional provision to invoke. LSP and JSP Nepal have demanded that government formation continue under Article 168(2), while UML and Nepali Congress argue that the clause has been exhausted and the next attempt must follow Article 168(3).
After Janamat’s Satish Kumar Singh’s resignation, the NC, CPN-UML and Janamat Party had reached an agreement to form a new government. Although there was an understanding to form the government under NC leadership, the Janamat Party withdrew at the last moment and extended its support to Sonal instead. With the strategy of keeping NC and UML out of power, Sonal’s LSP Nepal, along with JSP Nepal, the Maoist Center, the Unified Socialist and the Janamat Party came together to form a coalition.
However, two Maoist Center lawmakers — Rahbar Ansari and Mala Karna — who had pledged to support the government, declared in the province assembly on Saturday that none of the parties retained moral legitimacy and announced they would not vote for anyone in the confidence motion. With the defection, Sonal realized he wouldn’t get the trust vote and stepped down.
With Sonal’s departure, Madhesh Province is set to see its fourth government in less than three years — a reflection of the persistent instability gripping provincial politics.
