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The government on Thursday decided to extend the terms of the two transitional justice commissions.

A Cabinet meeting held this afternoon decided to extend the terms of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission on Investigation of Enforced Disappeared Persons by one year (until mid-July next year).

Similarly, the meeting has decided to postpone the decision to implement the national identity card compulsory to receive the social security allowance for the time being.

The government took this decision as the people have been facing difficulties to make national identity cards due to floods and landslides across the country, government spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma said.

The Rastriya Prajatantra Party has decided not to give a vote of confidence to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

The Parliamentary Party meeting of the Rastriya Prajantra Party held in Singha Durbar on Thursday decided to stand against the vote of confidence, RPP Chief Whip Gyanendra Shahi informed.

The party, however, has not yet decided whether to participate in the new alliance of the Nepali Congress-CPN-UML or not, he further said.

The decision on the same will be made after the formation of a new government, leader Shahi informed.

The CPN-UML has issued a whip to all its members in the House of Representatives to mandatorily attend a Parliament meeting on Friday.

As Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is scheduled to seek a  vote of confidence on Friday, the party has directed all its lawmakers to mandatorily attend the meeting and vote against him, Congress Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak informed.

The CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government fell into minority after the CPN-UML and the Nepali Congress reached an agreement to form a national consensus government.

The UML has already issued a whip to all its members of the House of Representatives to attend a Parliament meeting scheduled for Friday and vote against Prime Minister Dahal.

Preparations are underway to form a new government under the headship of UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli by removing Dahal from the government.

In the 275-member House of Representatives, 138 seats are required for a majority.

The first and second largest parties of the Parliament Nepali Congress has 88 seats and UML has 79 seats.

The new alliance of the UML-NC has the support of Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janata Samajbadi Party, Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal, Nagarik Unmukti Party and Democratic Socialist Party.

The CPN (Maoist Center), CPN (Unified Socialist) and Rastraiya Swatantra Party are in favor of the Dahal-led government.

The CPN-UML has said that President Ram Chandra Paudel should initiate the government formation process as per Article 76(2) of the Constitution after the incumbent Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “loses the crucial floor test” in the Parliament on July 12.

A meeting of the party’s Secretariat meeting has taken such a decision. After the meeting, UML leader Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said: “There are no constitutional and legal ambiguities regarding the government formation process, there are precedents vis-a-vis government formation as per Article 76(2) of the constitution.” 

Furthermore, he said the NC and the UML will participate in the government on an equal basis.

It should be noted that NC and UML, the largest and the second largest party in the Parliament, have agreed to form a national unity government to address burning issues facing the country. 

Against this backdrop, the UML meeting has decided to strive for bringing in “more and more parties” in the government. While addressing the party meeting, party Chairperson KP Sharma Oli said there has not been any concrete agreement with the NC about forming a commission for suggesting ways to form the next government.

According to the UML chair, there has been a principled position on constitution amendment but no discussion has taken place (between the two parties) on specific issues concerning the amendment. Oli accused ‘some forces’ of trying to create confusion about the NC-UML agreement.

We have realized that some provisions in the Constitution should be amended in keeping with changing times, he said. Oli is of the view that Prime Minister Dahal, at the helm of a minority government after the UML’s recent withdrawal, is still working to prevent UML from forming the next government by refusing to step down.

The NC and UML have agreed to form a national unity government but the text of the agreement has not been made public yet. As things stand, Oli is supposed to become the PM in the first phase and then hand over power to Deuba for the remaining term. PM Dahal is seeking a vote of confidence on Friday amid speculations that odds are stacked against him.  

Meanwhile, the UML has issued a whip to all its members in the House of Representatives (HoR) to mandatorily attend a session of the lower house scheduled for July 12 and to vote against PM Dahal.