Koshi provincial head Parshuram Khapung on Thursday appointed Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader Uddhav Thapa as the new chief minister.

Thapa was appointed as per Article 168(2) of the constitution after he laid claim to lead a new majority government with the signatures of 46 lawmakers and Speaker Baburam Gautam.

Signatures of 29 lawmakers from Congress, 13 from the CPN (Maoist Centre) including the Speaker, four from the CPN (Unified Socialist) and one from the Janata Samajbadi Party were submitted to the provincial head.

The provincial assembly is 93-strong and support of 47 lawmakers is needed for a majority to form the government.

Provincial head Khapung on Sunday issued a notice calling upon political parties to come up with a proposal to form a new government within 5 pm Thursday.

Earlier today [Thursday], the CPN-UML and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party submitted a memorandum to provincial head Khapung demanding not to give recognition to the claim made with the support of the incumbent Speaker. They have argued that a Speaker can’t take a side to form a government as the position of the head of the legislature is a neutral one.

Coalition partners had earlier sought the support of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party to form the government in Koshi. But the party declined to join the new coalition.

Chief Minister Hikmat Bahadur Karki lost the position after failing to secure the vote of confidence during the floor test in the provincial assembly on June 30. He then led the government as an acting chief minister.

Congress leader Thapa said he will form a small-sized Cabinet and continue efforts to garner the support of more provincial MPs for the vote of confidence.