Head of Province 1 Parshuram Khapung on Sunday called on political parties to form the provincial government in eight days.

Issuing a statement, Narendra Kumar Shrestha, spokesperson of the Office of Head of Province, said Khapung has asked the parties to stake their claims for government formation by 5 pm January 8 under Article 168 (2) of the constitution.

As no party commands a majority, any assembly member who has the backing of 47 members from two or more parties in the 93-member Assembly gets appointed chief minister.

Following the call, CPN-UML, the largest party in the Province 1 Assembly, is preparing to stake its claim for government formation by Friday.

Hikmat Kumar Karki, the leader of the UML provincial assembly, said that the party will stake claim for the formation of the government to the head of the province by next Friday after reaching an agreement with other coalition partners.

“Earlier informal discussions with coalition parties for the formation of the government have now become formal,” Karki said.

According to the federal power equation, UML, CPN (Maoist Centre), Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) are expected to form the government in the province. In the 93-seat Assembly, UML has 40 seats, Maoist Centre 14, RPP six and JSP one.