Rajkumar Sharma of CPN (Maoist Center) has been appointed chief minister of Karnali province.
Province Chief Tilak Pariyar appointed Sharma as the third chief minister of Karnali on Wednesday as per Article 168 (2) of the Constitution. Sharma is the Maoist Center parliamentary party leader in Karnali provincial assembly.
CPN-UML parliamentary party leader Yamlal Kandel was Sharma’s proposer and CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Kalyani Khadka was his supporter.
Sharma had staked claim to the chief minister's post with signatures of 25 lawmakers from Maoist Center, UML, Unified Socialist and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).
As none of the five parties in the Karnali provincial assembly commands a clear majority to form a government as per Article 168 (1) of the Constitution, Sharma was appointed chief minister with the support of Maoist Center, UML, Unified Socialist and RPP as per Article 168 (2).
Maoist Center has 13 lawmakers in the Karnali provincial assembly, UML has 10, and Unified Socialist and RPP have one each. The 40-member provincial assembly also has 14 lawmakers from Nepali Congress and one independent lawmaker.
