Kathmandu – The Supreme Court of Nepal has ruled that there is no constitutional obligation to automatically appoint the leader of the largest party in Parliament as Prime Minister following the fall of a coalition government.

The Court rejected the argument that a change in coalition dynamics must immediately trigger the process under Article 76(3) of the Constitution. Instead, it clarified that Article 76(2) can be applied multiple times, and the departure of one coalition partner does not necessarily require initiating a new government formation process.

This verdict was in response to demands that Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba be appointed Prime Minister after then-Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) lost a vote of confidence due to the withdrawal of support by the CPN-UML. Subsequently, President Ram Chandra Paudel had called for a new government under Article 76(2) and appointed KP Sharma Oli as Prime Minister.

The constitutional bench of the Supreme Court issued an interpretation aimed at clarifying future uncertainties in government formation, affirming that even if a coalition collapses, the President is not bound to move directly to Article 76(3). Rather, the President may again invoke Article 76(2) to invite parties to form a new majority-backed government.