A new government in Koshi now or a mid-term?

Regarding the issue of Koshi state government, Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba on Wednesday called Congress Vice President Purna Bahadur Khadka, Dhanraj Gurung, General Minister Gagan Thapa, National Assembly Parliamentary Party Leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Leader Shekhar Koirala and Koshi Chief Minister Karki at his residence and discussed it.

Chief Minister Karki said after the meeting that the party made the conclusion that the alternative of the government formed according to the last option of the constitution is not another government but a mid-term one.

Hikmat Karki, who was appointed Chief Minister as a major party in accordance with Article 168, Clause 3 of the Constitution by the order of the Supreme Court, was appointed Chief Minister on October 27th as a non-party as per Clause 5

If the minority government fails to receive a vote of confidence, the constitution provides that the head of the state appoints the chief minister if there is a situation where any member can receive a vote of confidence. When Karki, who became the chief minister as a non-party, has received the vote of confidence within 30 days, the political question has arisen whether to form an alternative government or to go to the mid-term.

However, the constitutional scholars say that the conclusions of the Congress and the claims of the Chief Minister are not based on the principle of parliamentary system but are power-oriented. Bipin Adhikari, a constitutional expert, says that the Chief Minister, who is formed in accordance with Article 168 of the Constitution, after taking the vote of confidence, cannot make a mid-term announcement until there is an option to form a government in the Parliament.

'Government building cannot be done by going down the ladder and reaching 168 (5). Such an interpretation is untenable. The government formed under this article has the option to form the government at any time and under any circumstances once the vote of confidence has been taken. Neither the Prime Minister nor the Chief Minister has the privilege to dissolve the House," he said. "When the government falls into a minority, the Chief Minister has to take a vote of confidence from the Parliament or leave the way for the formation of another government. It is the basic principle of the parliamentary system that the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister should be in the majority in any situation.

senior advocate Tikaram Bhattarai also says that the constitutional provision of automatically dissolving the Provincial Assembly after the Chief Minister Karki, appointed under Article 168 Sub-section 5, takes a vote of confidence within 30 days has ended. If Kedar Karki did not receive a vote of confidence within 30 days, he would automatically go to the mid-term. After the vote of confidence comes into force, whether or not to give an alternative to the government is not a matter for the discretion of a particular party or the Chief Minister, but the jurisdiction of the Provincial Assembly,' he said. UML, Maoists, National Independent Party, Jaspa and United Socialists are . RSVP does not have a presence in the state . In the 93-member Koshi province, there are 58 MPs including 40 from UML, 13 from Maoist, 4 from CPN (S) and 1 from Jaspa. Congress, Maoists, United Socialist Party and Jaspa are currently participating in the Karki-led government.

As long as the fellow travelers of the old coalition remain in the government, Karki is safe, but without the coalition members leaving the government, Karki is sure to be in the minority. In such a situation, the constitutional scholars say that the way for the formation of an alternative government should be left as Karki would be satisfied to stay in the government based on parliamentary principles and ethics.

However, Chief Minister Karki says that there is no constitutional provision to take a vote of confidence or resign even if the fellow travelers of the old alliance separate from the government.

'It is not possible to bring a no-confidence motion for two years after the appointment of the Chief Minister . This government is not made up of political parties. It is made so that the individual does not go to the mid-term for once . There is no provision to remove this government. A political party cannot influence a person's vote . The alternative is to go to the mid-term," he said, "If there is a desire not to go to the mid-term, I must have everyone's support." He said that he will not resign because there is no constitutional process to form another government.

The constitutionalist officer says that the process of government formation can proceed automatically when the government is in the minority. He says that even if the Chief Minister does not leave at that time, there is an option to claim the government by taking the signature of the majority of the members and up to the head of the state.

"After the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister lose their majority, the budget, bills, government policies and proposals cannot be passed by the assembly". In such a situation, it is not possible to sit and run the house anyway . When the Chief Minister is in the minority, he should take a vote of confidence or let the government's claim be presented,' he added, 'an easy constitutional way out is to take a vote of confidence after reaching the minority, or resign and exit.' Bhattarai said that since the Supreme Court has set a precedent that it cannot go into the mid-term until there is an alternative to the government in the Parliament, the same will happen in the case of Koshi. There is no question until the majority is in favor of the Chief Minister. After falling into the minority, there is no continuity in the parliamentary system . After that, the provincial parliament will take a decision on what kind of government to form,'' he said. If Kedar Karki fails to show majority, he will become the next Chief Minister . At that time, it is a matter for the Provincial Assembly to decide what kind of government to form under Article 168 of the Constitution. . He said that according to the status of the political parties affiliated to the alliance, the share of the leadership of the state government will be shared.

Even though there are some political questions about Koshi, he said that as long as there is no option to form a government in the state assembly according to the order of the Supreme Court and the constitution, the government will be formed by the new coalition parties. "Congress is trying to sow the seeds of instability in Koshi by saying that it cannot form the government, the alliance parties will provide an alternative to the government after proving the majority, that is the meaning of the decision made by the Supreme Court," he said.

After the 2079 elections in Koshi, the government was formed for the first time under the leadership of UML's Hikmat Karki. However, the said government collapsed with the change of the central coalition. Karki was appointed Chief Minister with the participation of UML, Maoist, RPR and JSP.

After the Maoists returned to the alliance with the Congress with the presidential election, the Congress formed the second government under the leadership of the Chief Minister of the State Parliamentary Party, Uddhav Thapa, under Article 2 of 168 . The government of Thapa, who was appointed as the Chief Minister with the signature of the majority including the Speaker, was dissolved by the court. According to the same article of the constitution, he was appointed as the Chief Minister for the second time.

The second government could not last more than 30 days . UML leader Karki was appointed as the Chief Minister for the second time by the order of the Supreme Court. However, as he too could not get the vote of confidence, Karki became the Chief Minister according to Article 168 (5) of the Constitution.