Kamal Shah of Nepali Congress has been appointed chief minister of Sudur Paschim province.
Province chief Devraj Joshi appointed Shah as the new chief minister of the province on Thursday evening. He will be sworn in on Friday.
Nepali Congress has formed a new government as per Article 168 (3) of the Constitution after the fall of the previous government formed as per Article 168 (2).
Nepali Congress is the largest party with 19 seats in the 53-strong Sudur Paschim provincial assembly.
A government formed as per Article 168 (2) or (3) is required to secure the vote of confidence within 30 days of its formation.
Rajendra Singh Rawal of CPN-UML lost his job as chief minister after failing to secure the vote of confidence in the floor test earlier on Thursday.
The seven lawmakers from Nagarik Unmukti Party in the provincial assembly who had supported Rawal for chief minister did not arrive in Dhangadhi to cast their votes in Thursday’s floor test.
Rawal had written to the speaker to call a meeting of the provincial assembly for a vote of confidence for Wednesday. But the meeting was deferred to Thursday as the Nagarik Unmukti Party lawmakers did not return to Dhangadhi from Kathmandu.
Rawal, who is the parliamentary party leader of UML, was appointed chief minister on January 11 with the support of 29 lawmakers – 11 from CPN (Maoist Center), 10 from UML, seven from Nagarik Unmukti Party and one from Rastriya Prajatantra Party.
He was sworn in as chief minister on January 12. Parliamentary party leader of Maoist Center Khagaraj Bhatta and Santosh Thapa of UML were appointed ministers the same day. Rawal had not been able to expand his Cabinet or assign responsibilities to the ministers even after nearly a month.
