ITAHARI: Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader in Koshi Province Assembly, Uddhab Thapa, is confident that he will lead the province once again as the next Chief Minister.
The Supreme Court invalidated Thapa’s government on Thursday. Thapa had made a claim for government formation on July 6 by presenting the signature of Speaker Gautam. Province Chief Parshu Ram Khapung subsequently appointed him to the post. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Speaker is in a neutral position and cannot take any side in the province assembly.
In an interview with Himal Press following the court’s verdict, Thapa said the court order has not deterred his determination to take charge once more. “The apex court has ruled that the government formation process was wrong. We admit our mistakes. Now, the government will be formed in such a way that there will be no such mistake,” Thapa said. “The province will get a Chief Minister within a week. We have already started the necessary homework for this.”
Thapa said he has already begun talks with leaders from different parties. “The previous government was formed under the leadership of the Nepali Congress. Again, as the government will be formed according to Article 168(2) of the Constitution, the government will be formed under the leadership of our party. For this, we have started talks with leaders of other parties,” Thapa said. “When NC gets the opportunity to lead the government, it is natural that I, the leader of the parliamentary party, will become the Chief Minister.”
The ruling and opposition camps at the center are evenly poised in the Koshi Province Assembly. The ruling coalition of Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Center), CPN (Unified Socialist), and Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) has 46 members in the 93-member provincial assembly, while the opposition camp, comprising UML and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), also has 46 members.
Thapa’s predecessor, Hikmat Bahadur Karki of CPN-UML, had formed the government with the support of JSP.
