The Election Commission is set to submit its election report to President Ram Chandra Paudel on Thursday, marking the formal conclusion of the March 5 snap parliamentary polls.

The submission of the report is seen as officially informing the head of state, who has the authority to call for the formation of the government, about the strength of each party in the House of Representatives.

Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, spokesperson at the commission, said those elected under the proportional representation category will be provided with the certificates in the morning before the report is submitted to the President in the afternoon. The commission has invited the 110 lawmakers elected to the House of Representatives through the proportional representation system to get the certificates.

Based on the votes secured by political parties, the commission has already allocated 57 seats to the Rastriya Swatantra Party, 20 to the Nepali Congress, 16 to the CPN-UML, and 9 to the Nepali Communist Party. The newly formed Shram Sanskriti Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party have got four seats each. All the parties have picked their lawmakers according to the seats allocated to them. They will officially become lawmakers after receiving their certificates.

As the commission prepares to submit its report, the Parliament Secretariat has also expedited preparations for the oath-taking ceremony for the newly elected lawmakers. “The secretariat will publish a notice for oath-taking right after the commission submits the election report to the President,” said Ekram Giri, spokesperson at the secretariat. “We are aiming for the swearing-in on March 26. However, the final decision will be taken after consultations with the parties.”

As work on the new parliament building on Singha Durbar premises has not been completed, a temporary hall is being readied for the ceremony. Final arrangement of chairs, the installation of lights, and the setup of microphones are ongoing, according to the secretariat. Nepali Congress lawmaker Arjun Narsingh KC, as the eldest member of the House, is most likely to chair the first meeting for the swearing-in ceremony.

Even as the swearing-in is planned for March 26, there is no barrier to the formation of the new government before the lawmakers are administered the oath.

The new government, if the Rastriya Swatantra Party wishes, can be formed any day after the President receives the election report.

“Ideally, it would be better if the government were formed after the lawmakers have taken their oaths. However, the President has no objection to appointing the parliamentary party leader of the largest party as the prime minister on any day after he receives the report,” Baburam Kunwar, legal advisor to the President, told the Kathmandu Post.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party has won 182 seats in the 275-member lower house, just two seats shy of a two-thirds majority. Article 76 (1) of the Constitution of Nepal authorises the President to appoint the leader of a parliamentary party that commands a majority in the House of Representatives as the prime minister.

The RSP contested the March 5 elections declaring Balendra Shah as the prime ministerial candidate, which brought the party a thumping majority. However, the party needs to elect him as its parliamentary party leader before he can claim government leadership. “The President will appoint the RSP’s parliamentary party leader as the prime minister on the day the party stakes its claim to the government,” said Kunwar.

CPN-UML leader KP Sharma Oli was appointed prime minister after the 2017 elections even before he took the oath as a lawmaker, which had met with controversy. The decision was even challenged in the Supreme Court. In its verdict, the top court said it was not mandatory to take the oath to become prime minister. Based on the precedent, the RSP can stake a claim for the government the day it elects its parliamentary party leader.

RSP leaders say they have yet to discuss whether to wait until the oath before making a claim. Bipin Acharya, the party’s deputy general secretary, said the party is yet to settle on a date for government formation.

“Our party believes in the rule of law and setting a political culture,” he told the Post. “However, as there has not been any discussion in the party, I am not in a position to comment on how the government-making process moves ahead. There might be some discussions tomorrow [Thursday].”

The party’s election manifesto says the Cabinet size will be capped at 18, even as the Constitution allows for 25 members. There are 22 ministries, including the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.