Indra Angbo of CPN (Maoist Center) will stake claim for the post of chief minister of Koshi province from the ruling coalition.
Angbo is preparing to present his claim for the post after Nepali Congress (NC) also agreed to make him chief minister.
NC Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak told Setopati that a meeting of leaders of the ruling coalition held at the prime minister’s residence in Baluwatar on Thursday decided to support Angbo for chief minister.
Koshi’s Province Chief Parshuram Khapung has given parties until 5 PM Friday to stake claim for the post of chief minister according to Article 168 (5) of the Constitution.
"In cases where the Chief Minister appointed pursuant to clause (3) fails to secure a vote of confidence under clause (4) and any member referred to in clause (2) presents a ground on which he or she is able to secure a vote of confidence in the Provincial Assembly, the Chief of Province shall appoint such member as the Chief Minister," Article 168 (5) states.
Koshi Chief Minister Hikmat Kumar Karki resigned on Saturday after it became clear that he would fail the floor test.
The CPN-UML leader announced his resignation in the provincial assembly meeting, that was scheduled to vote on the floor test on Saturday, 29 days after Province Chief Khapung had appointed him as the chief minister according to Article 168 (3) of the Constitution.
NC that has 29 seats, CPN (Maoist Center) 13, CPN (Unified Socialist) four and Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) one had already decided to vote against Karki in the floor test. UML is the largest party in the 93-strong Provincial Assembly with 40 seats. But it was not even supported by RPP, which has six seats.
