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It’s the curse of coalition politics. Nepal’s major political parties are caught in a whirlwind of negotiation and bargaining to form a new government. At stake are the key positions of prime minister, speaker and president. Talks have begun between the Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Center) on sharing prime minister, Speaker and  president, while the CPN-UML is also approaching other parties to explore the possibilities of government formation. UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli on Saturday said he was closely following the power-sharing talks inside the incumbent five-party ruling coalition.. Some UML leaders say a split in the current five-party coalition, led by the Congress, will pave the way for UML-Maoist possible partnership for government formation, and they are already in talks with the Maoists. But with all three major parties making a beeline for the next premiership, the attraction of the post has somewhat become a secondary prize. No matter who becomes the next prime minister, it is almost certain he will not get to enjoy the full five-year term. So, the power-sharing negotiations seem to have pivoted towards the posts of president and speaker. The experience of the last five years has clearly shown that even the president and speaker, despite being ceremonial posts, could wield significant influence and power over the executive. The president and speaker can work in the interests of their respective parties, even though it goes against the hallowed tenet of separation of power. The NC leaders are publicly saying the party should not make unnecessary compromises on the presidential candidate. On Saturday, NC General Secretary Bishawa Prakash Sharma said at an event that a full-term presidency was more important to the party than a half-term premiership in a coalition government. The five-party coalition is far from reaching a consensus with its member parties. The coalition leader, NC, wants to retain its position of the executive head as well as install its presidential candidate at Sheetal Niwas. The Maoist Center and other coalition partners, on the other hand, are saying that the Congress cannot have both ways. They are insisting that the NC pick one of the two posts. Other leaders in the ruling coalition have also shown their interest to become the next president. Prior to the Nov 20 elections, Jhala Nath Khanal, a senior leader of CPN (Unified Socialist), had proposed divvying up the posts of president and speaker.  Some coalition leaders, including Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Maoist Center, want Unified Socialist chair Madhav Kumar Nepal to become the next president. But sources say Nepal has been telling leaders that he would rather become a prime minister. From the NC, the potential presidential candidates are Ram Chandra Poudel, Krishna Sitaula and KB Gurung. If UML gets the position of president in its power sharing talks with either the NC or the Maoist, Subas Nembang is its preferred candidate. A former speaker, Nembang was a UML presidential candidate in 2017 as well, but incumbent President Bidya Devi Bhandari, also from the UML, was elected for the second term.  Incumbent Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun and former speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota, are among the presidential aspirants from the Maoist Center. If the Maoist Center gets the position, the party is likely to tap Sapkota for the job. According to a Maoist leader, chairman Dahal has already given his green signal to Sapkota, who did not contest the parliamentary election this time.   Other leaders in the party also see Amik Sherchan as the likely candidate for the next president. Sherchan is currently the Province Chief of Lumbini Province.  

CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Nepal and CPN-Ekata Rastriya Abhiyan Coordinator Bamdev Gautam held a meeting on Sunday. Gautam had reached Aloknagar-based party office to meet Nepal. It has been learnt that the duo discussed power sharing and possible left alliance. CPN-Ekata Rastriya Abhiyan Coordinator Gautam is in a campaign to unite communist powers. CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal met Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday morning and sought his support to become the prime minister. Dahal is also in constant touch with the leaders of UML and fringes parties to become the prime minister. Though the Nepali Congress has agreed to change the leadership on rotation basis but has made it clear that Dahal cannot be made the prime minister in the first phase.

The Election Commission distributed certificates to the lawmakers elected to the federal parliament and province assemblies through Proportional Representation (PR) system. Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commission Secretary Gokarna Mani Duwadi distributed the certificates to the lawmakers amidst a program organized at the central office of the Election Commission on Sunday. The poll body distributed certificates to 330 lawmakers—110 of the House of Representatives and 220 of seven province assemblies. Seven political parties have got the recognition of national party in the House of Representatives.    

The political parties represented in the Gandaki provincial assembly have started internal preparations for the formation of a new government in Gandaki Province. The discussion about the next power equation in the government started after the Election Commission submitted the report with the results of the election held on November 20 to the Chief of Gandaki Province, Prithviman Gurung on Sunday. According to the election results, five parties— Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Centre), Rastriya Prajatanta Party and CPN (Unified Socialist)—will be represented in the Gandaki provincial assembly. In the 60-member provincial assembly, 36 members have been elected through the FPTP system while 24 people have been elected through the proportional representation (PR) system of the election. Gandaki has 27 representatives from Nepali Congress, 22 from UML, eight from Maoist Center, two from Rastriya Prajatantra Party and one from Unified Socialist Party. Even though CPN (Unified Socialist) did not win any seat in the election, Rajiv Gurung (Deepak Manange), an independent candidate elected from Manang, joined the party after the election. A total of 31 members are required to form a majority government but since no single party has a majority number, the equation between the parties will be important. Article 168 of the Constitution provides for the formation of the Provincial Council of Ministers. Section 1 of the said article stipulates that the leader of the parliamentary party with the majority in the provincial assembly will be appointed as the chief minister. Furthermore, Article 168 of the Constitution states that in the absence of a clear majority of any party, a member of the Provincial Assembly who can obtain a majority with the support of two or more parties represented in the Provincial Assembly will be elected the Chief Minister. Hence, the political parties are now engaged in the exercise of government formation following this article. Meanwhile, the parties are also preparing to select their respective leader of the parliamentary party. It is believed that the Nepali Congress and CPN-Maoist Center, which formed an alliance in the election, will jointly form the next government. The Nepali Congress has 27 members, Maoist Centre has eight and Unified Socialist has one, to make it 36 members, which will be a clear majority. Coalition of left parties is another option for the formation of the new government including CPN-UML and Maoist-Centre. The UML with 22 members, Maoist with eight and Unified Socialist with one member can garner 31 members. The support of RPP will also be necessary for a convenient majority. Meanwhile, for a stable government, the option of an equation between the Congress and the UML is also in discussion at the moment.