Newly appointed Prime Minister Oli sworn in; 3 member cabinet formed

KATHMANDU, Feb 15: Newly appointed Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has taken oath of office and secrecy.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered office of oath and secrecy to Oli amid a function at the President’s residence at Sital Niwas at 4:45 pm on Thursday.

Prime Minister Oli also formed a small 3-member cabinet appointing CPN-UML leaders Lal Babu Pandit as Minister for Population and Environment and Thum Maya Thapa as Minister for Women,Children and Social Welfare in his government.

The newly appointed ministers were also sworn-in by the President.

Earlier in the afternoon Oli was appointed to the post by the President Bhandari as per the Article 76 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal. The Article 76 (2) states In case no party has a clear majority the House of Representatives under the clause (1)–-[which states President shall appoint the leader of a parliamentary party that commands majority in the House of Representatives the Prime Minister]-–the President shall appoint as the Prime Minister a member of the House of Representatives who can command majority with the support of two or more parties representative House of Representative.

Earlier in the morning, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, following his address to the nation, had tendered his resignation to President Bidya Devi Bhandari.

Before that, Oli and senior leaders of CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) had reached Sital Niwas to claim the post.

A day earlier, The Election Commission had submitted a report on House of Representatives election under Proportional Representatives system paving way for the formation of a new government.

This is Oli second stint as the Prime Minister. He had served as the 38th Prime Minister of Nepal from October 11 2015 to 3 August 2016. He was also the second Prime Minister under the new constitution of Nepal.

Born on February 22, 1952 at Terathum district, the UML party Chair was the eldest child of Mohan Prasad Oli and Madhumaya Oli. Oli was raised by his grandmother, Rammaya, after his mother, Madhumaya, died of smallpox when Oli was four. He completed his primary education in Terathum and later his family migrated to Jhapa.

He joined Himalaya Higher Secondary School based in Damak municipality at the age of 12. But he dropped when he was in grade nine. He completed IA from prison and appeared only in the BA first year examination.

Oli met his wife, Rachana Shakya, a fellow communist, after coming out of prison. They first met in the course of party activities and married later.

Oli began his political career in 1966 in opposition to the party-less Panchayat System. He joined the Communist Party of Nepal in February 1970. He became involved in subversive politics and was arrested for the first time in 1970. A year later he became a district committee member of the party and soon the chief of the Jhapa Movement Organizing Committee in 1972. Oli was imprisoned for 14 consecutive years from 1973 to 1987. After his release from prison in 1987, he became a central committee member of UML in-charge of the Lumbini Zone until 1990.

After the 1990 People’s Movement, he held the post of chief of the foreign department of the CPN-UML in 1992. Oli also became the Founder President of the National Democratic Youth Federation of Nepal (DNYF).

He was elected as a member of parliament in the House of Representatives from Jhapa district’s electorate no. 6 in 1991. Soon he became the chief of the department of publicity. In the ever-changing political situation of Nepal, Oli served as Minister of Home Affairs in 1994–1995. He was re-elected to the House of Representatives from Jhapa electorate no. 2 in 1999.

Oli was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister as part of the interim government in 2006. From April 2006 to 2007, Oli was Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Oli stood as a candidate in the 2008 Constituent Assembly election but failed to win a seat. Five years later, he won the Jhapa–7 seat in the 2013 Constituent Assembly election as a CPN-UML candidate. He was designated as the Chief of the International Department of the CPN-UML Parliamentary Party.

Oli was elected as leader of the CPN-UML Parliamentary Party in the Second Constituent Assembly on 4 February 2014, defeating party chairman Jhala Nath Khanal by a vote of 98 to 75. Oli was subsequently elected as the chairman of CPN-UML in July 2014.

He was elected as Prime Minister in a parliamentary vote on 11 October 2015, receiving 338 votes out of 597. Oli’s PM candidacy was supported by the UCPN-Maoists, Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal, and Madhesi Rights Forum-Democratic along with 13 other small parties. He was sworn in on 12 October.

Following the withdrawal of support from the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Center) on 13 July 2016 from the existing coalition government and subsequent registration of a no-confidence motion by the party on 14 July 2016, CPN-UML and acting Prime Minister KP Oli seemingly shrank to a minority which pressured him to resign.

But CPN-UML’s decision to discuss filed no confidence motion led to a three-day parliament meeting of the concerned parties. During the process, two other major parties, Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Madhesi Rights Forum-Democratic, also removed their support from the coalition. On the third day, 24 July 2016, after his answering to the issues held by the opposition parties, KP Oli announced his resignation as Prime Minister.