INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 18Koshi Chief Minister Kedar Karki has won the trust vote with twothird majority ending the
political crisis in Koshi.
Chief Minister Karki secures vote of confidence
NC's Kedar Karki appointed fifth Koshi CM
Karki, was appointed chief minister of Koshi Province as per article 168 (5) of the Constitution
He was able to garner the vote in his favour from across the parties, including the opposition.Deputy Speaker of Koshi Province Assembly
Srijana Danuwar announced that 86 votes were cast in favour of CM Karki, while 5 voted against him.
Chief Minister Karki
got more than two-third votes in the 93-member Province Assembly.There were 91 MPs present during the vote today.Thirty-nine MPs from UML,
29 from Congress, 13 from Maoist Centre, four from CPN (Unified Socialist) and one from JSP-N gave their vote of confidence to Chief
Minister Karki.Five members voted against Karki and one member from RPP was absent.Karki is Koshi's third chief minister in the second
Province Assembly and the fifth since last November polls
He was appointed last Saturday with the support of 39 UML and 8 rebel Congress MPs
However, the coalition party also supported him and voted in his favour today.It is argued that CM Karki has got advantage from the
derangement of the parties' representation in the Koshi Assembly.UML supported Karki, who rebelled against the decisions of his own party
and the coalition and finally became the fifth chief minister.However, the coalition parties also favoured Karki today during floor test
hoping that it would push the UML into the opposition once again
This helped Karki grab the CM's chair.The UML, which supported the rebel Karki of the Congress, is all set to bar the entry of coalition
parties into the Karki-led government
On the other hand, the coalition parties are trying to turn the Karki-led government in their favour.According to political analyst Dr Vijay
Mishra, Shekhar Koirala and KP Sharma Oli have played pivotal roles in protecting federalism."Only the party which is against the federal
system has voted against Karki
Therefore, it is clear that all parties' consensus was reached to save the current system and a government should be formed incorporating
them all."The coalition parties have hoped that the Baluwatar agreement authorised by Congress leader Shekhar Koirala, who has become
kingmaker in Koshi, Karki the CM, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba, will be implemented in the
province.Subsequently, the alliance voted in Karki's favour with the purpose of throwing out the UML, which supported the rebels, despite
being the major opposition.After challenging the coalition and becoming the executive head of the province, CM Karki got the votes of all
the parties, and the power politics of Koshi state has once again taken a dramatic turn.Karki's decision to expand his cabinet is going to
define the power struggle in Koshi by managing enormous pressure from his own party and UML which supported him to become CM in his first
attempt.Since being appointed chief minister, Karki has intensified discussions with the coalition parties in Koshi
Leaders participating in the discussion have commented that Chief Minister Karki has clarified he will be forming a government of consensus
in Koshi.UML has been creating pressure on CM Karki to exclude CPN-MC from the government, however, other parties of the coalition have been
included.On the contrary, Chief Minister Karki is preparing to include parties including CPN-MC in the government after clearing the floor
test.On October 14, Karki was appointed the eighth CM of Koshi since the 2017 election and fifth since November 2023 polls after verifying
the signatures of 47- lawmakers who had supported him before governor Prashuram Khapung
He was sworn in on Sunday.After the ruling alliance decided to support CPN-MC'S candidate Indra Bahadur Angbo
Karki who is close to the NC leader Shekhar Koirala camp revolted and staked claim with the support of 39 MPs of UML and 8 from NC.Earlier,
Hikmat Karki of UML and Uddhav Thapa from Nepali Congress both were appointed twice as the CM of Koshi
Unfortunately, they both failed to pass the floor testA version of this article appears in the print on October 19, 2023, of The Himalayan
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com
