Is there a caretaker government in Koshi Province?

The ouster of the Uddhav Thapa-led government in Koshi has sparked a debate on the status of the caretaker provincial administration.

Province head Parshuram Khapung has not assigned a caretaker government, creating confusion even among government agencies.

For instance, after the Supreme Court’s verdict on Thursday, a team of Nepal Army had reached CPN-UML leader Hikmat Karki’s residence to provide security, apparently believing that he was the caretaker chief minister. But the personnel left Karki’s residence on Saturday morning.

Confusion persists as the court verdict termed the process of appointment of Nepali Congress leader Thapa as the chief minister unconstitutional, raising questions over whether his administration can be entrusted to carry out daily administrative work.

Thapa is still mentioned as the chief minister on the website of the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers. His name is also on the nameplate at the chief minister’s office.

Experts, however, are divided on the government’s caretaker status.

According to constitutional expert Bipin Adhikari, there is no caretaker government in Koshi. “The Karki government was already voted out. Thapa took the oath of office as chief minister and inducted three ministers as well. But the Supreme Court termed the process unconstitutional. So there is no caretaker government,” Adhikari told the Post.

“Rather than leaving it to the provincial head’s discretion, the Supreme Court has fixed a deadline [to form a majority government in accordance with Article 168(2)], explaining that Article 168(3) will come into play [if a government is not formed as per 168 (2)],” said Adhikari.

The Supreme Court, on Thursday, unseated Thapa from the post of chief minister and directed both the head of the province and Speaker of the provincial assembly to appoint a chief minister of a coalition government within seven days. Province Head Khapung, accordingly, asked the political parties to stake their claim on government leadership by Tuesday, as per Article 168(2) of the constitution.

The Supreme Court, however, did not reinstate UML parliamentary party leader Karki as the chief minister, which was one of the demands of Karki, who had moved the court on the issue. “If the chief minister appointed as per Article 168 (2) fails to get a vote of confidence, a new chief minister will be appointed as per Article 168 (3). Therefore, it is not necessary to issue an order to appoint the plaintiff as the chief minister,” said one point in the verdict.

Some constitutional experts, meanwhile, say that the Karki-led government should be assigned the caretaker status.

Constitutional expert Chandra Kanta Gyawali said the court termed the government of Uddhav Thapa unconstitutional, reasoning that the Speaker cannot give his support to form the new government. Thereon, the government formation process was taken to a point where the province head had to call for new government formation after Hikmat Karki failed the floor test. “Therefore, Karki’s coalition government should be recognised as the caretaker.”

Khapung had appointed Thapa as Karki’s successor after the ruling alliance produced the signatures of 47 lawmakers including Baburam Gautam, the Speaker of the assembly, on July 6, to prove a majority in the assembly as per Article 168(2) of the constitution.

A day later, the opposition UML moved the court saying that the head of the assembly can’t take sides and support a political party to form a government.

reference  : kathmandu post