President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Saturday invited Prime Ministerial aspirants to lay their claim for the new government by December 25. The invitation came two days after the Election Commission submitted the results of November 20 elections that has thrown a hung parliament in Nepal. Since no party has acquired majority, the president has invoked Article 76 (2) of the Constitution to stake claim for government formation — with two or more parties, and support from individual MPs. If there are more than one claims for the post, the President will pick up whoever has the convincing claim to form the government. This requires securing a vote of confidence in the House within a month of taking oath of the Office. As of now, incumbent Sher Bahadur Deuba, who leads the largest party with 89 members in a house of 275, appears front runner. Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, with just 32 members belonging to Maoist Centre has also expressed his ambition.
