Israeli president asks Opposition leader to form govt after Netanyahu fails to form coalition
Jerusalem, May 5: Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday tasked Opposition leader Yair Lapid to form a new government, after beleaguered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to meet a midnight deadline of forming a coalition.
President Rivlin's announcement on live television gave opposition a chance to end the lengthy rule of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is at the helm of politics since 2009 - becoming Israel's longest-serving premier.
Lapid, 57, a veteran journalist and politician, now has four weeks to build a coalition.
Netanyahu, 71, who is facing trial on a series of graft charges, was earlier tasked by President Rivlin to put together a government on April 6 following inconclusive polls, the fourth in the last two years.
President Rivlin's spokesman in a statement said: "Shortly before midnight, Netanyahu informed the President's Residence that he was unable to form a government and so returned the mandate to the president."
Rivlin on Wednesday contacted the parties represented in the Knesset (Israel's unicameral parliament) on the continuation of the process of forming a government.
He met with Yesh Atid party's chairman Lapid, and right-wing Yamina party's chairman Naftali Bennett at the President's Residence. At his request, the rest of the party leaders submitted their recommendations for the second mandate. Lapid received recommendations from 56 lawmakers and Bennett from only his party's seven.
"From the number of recommendations, it is clear that Yair Lapid could form a government that has the confidence of the Knesset, despite there being many difficulties," Rivlin said.
"I have just spoken to Yair Lapid and informed him that I am entrusting him with forming a government," he said.
Netanyahu's Likud party emerged as the single largest party in the 120-member Parliament but failed to muster the necessary 61-member support to form a government. Likud had won 30 seats in the general election in March.
While tasking Netanyahu with the responsibility of forming the government, Rivlin had said that he was doing so reluctantly and also mentioned his "moral dilemma" given the court proceedings and lack of enough support for the Likud leader.
Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing.
Gideon Sa'ar, a former member of Netanyahu's Likud party who broke away to launch the New Hope party before the March 23 elections, had recommended Lapid to be tasked with forming the next government.
In the previous round of consultations with Rivlin last month, Sa'ar's six-member party didn't back anyone as premier.
Additionally, the majority of the Joint List alliance of predominantly Arab parties also chose to back Lapid this time around, saying it preferred him to any of the other options.
The additional support boosted Lapid's bloc of backers from 45 to 56 lawmakers, including Yesh Atid, Blue and White, Labor, Meretz and Yisrael Beytenu. His Yesh Atid party had emerged as the second largest party in the March 23 election with 17 seats.
The Blue and White party, headed by Defence Minister Benny Gantz also recommended that Lapid be granted the Presidential mandate to form a government, a spokesperson for the party said.
Rivlin gave Netanyahu the first chance to form a coalition after 52 members of parliament endorsed him as Prime Minister last month, compared to 45 for Lapid and a mere seven for Bennett.
Netanyahu failed to persuade Bennett to join him in a power-sharing agreement that would have seen the pair take turns as prime minister.
Bennett had dismissed the offer, saying even with his support Netanyahu could not muster a majority.
Likud blamed Bennett for foiling Netanyahu's chances by refusing to commit to a right-wing government, which would certainly have led to the formation of a government joined by additional members of parliament."
Though the right-wing bloc in the Israeli political spectrum has repeatedly garnered the majority seats in all the four elections, a lot of determined "friends turned foes" of Netanyahu have prevented a majority for him in the 120-member house.
Bennett, who in the past has served as Defence Minister in Netanyahu's government, on Wednesday called on all political parties to join a "broad emergency government" in order to avoid a fifth election.
"The truth is simple, Netanyahu failed to form a right-wing," Bennett said in a statement.
He said that he "left no stone unturned" in order to form a right-wing government, including last-minute efforts on Tuesday night to leave the door open for such a government, but that Netanyahu slammed it shut".
He also called on all right-wing parties to join a "broad emergency government," which, he said, would "not be easy for anyone" and "not necessarily a natural government" but was the only alternative to a fifth election.
If such a government does get formed, it would mark the end of Netanyahu's uninterrupted reign at the helm of affairs since 2009.
Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving leader, having led five governments since 1996. The last, which saw him share power with the then-main Opposition party to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic, collapsed in December, triggering the latest elections.
Until any new government is agreed and sworn into office, Netanyahu remains Israel's Prime Minister.
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Balendra Shah's RSP makes history, registers landmark victory in Nepal elections
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Kathmandu (PTI): Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah's RSP is all set to form the next government in Nepal after securing sweeping victory in crucial general elections on Saturday, decimating the established parties in the politically fragile nation.
Popularly known as Balen, the 35-year-old prime ministerial candidate of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) defeated four-time prime minister KP Sharma Oli, the chair of Nepal's legacy party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) -- CPN-UML -- by a huge margin of about 50,000 votes in Jhapa-5 constituency.
Balen, 35, secured 68,348 votes against 74-year-old Oli's 18,734, the Election Commission (EC) said.
He is expected to be the next prime minister of Nepal, reflecting a public mood of rejection of established parties. The RSP, which was formed in 2022 by Ravi Lamichhane, has won 72 seats out of the 90 seats for which results were declared by 9:30 pm, according to the Election Commission (EC).
RSP's seats include a clean sweep in all 10 constituencies of Kathmandu district even as it is leading in 52 seats across the country, the EC data showed.
Legacy parties failed to convince voters for whom the major issues included fighting corruption and an end to nepotism apart from a generational change in political leadership of the Himalayan nation.
The Nepali Congress (NC) won 10 and was leading in eight seats; the CPN-(UML) won just four seats and is leading in eight; the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) won two seats and is leading in five, the Shrama Shakti Party (SSP) was leading in three seats, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) won one seat, the EC data showed. Among the winners is one independent.
Nepal witnessed about 60 per cent voter turnout during the March 5 elections to the House of Representatives. The counting of votes started late Thursday night and as of 9:30 pm Saturday, counting was in progress in the remaining of the total 165 constituencies, the Election Commission said.
The election was being closely watched by India, which is hoping for a stable government in the politically fragile Himalayan nation to take forward the developmental partnership between the two sides.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday congratulated the people and government of Nepal for the successful conduct of elections. “It is heartening to see my Nepali sisters and brothers exercise their democratic rights so vibrantly. This historic milestone is a proud moment in Nepal's democratic journey,” Modi said in a post on X.
Modi also said that as a close friend and neighbour, India remains steadfast in its commitment to working closely with the people of Nepal and its new government to scale new heights of shared peace, progress and prosperity.
Oli, who too was projected as the PM face of the CPN-UML, wished Balen for a full five year tenure for his government in the Himalayan nation that has seen 14 governments in the last 18 years.
“Balen babu, congratulations for the victory. I wish your five year tenure be trouble free, successful and hearty congratulations,” Oli wrote in his social media post and attached a 2022 photo showing him gifting a tabla to Balen after the rapper-turned-politician won Kathmandu mayor's election as an independent.
The RSP, which projected Balendra Shah 'Balen' as its prime ministerial candidate and had organised its first election campaign in Janakpur in Madhesh, is heading towards a clean sweep of the province.
‘Balen’, as he is popularly known, projected himself as the “son of Madhesh” during the campaign, with the party launching the campaign with 'Ab ki bar Balendra Sarkar' (This time there will be Balendra’s government) tagline.
Of the total 32 seats in eight districts of Madhesh province, the RSP has won eight and is leading in 22 other constituencies, the EC said.
The party is also making a clean sweep in the Kathmandu Valley winning all 10 seats of Kathmandu district and two in Bhaktapur and two in Lalitpur district.
The party is also leading in the remaining one seat of the Kathmandu Valley with a huge margin, possibly as a result of a massive road show led by Balen in all 15 constituencies on the last day of the election campaign.
RSP chairman Lamichhane won with a huge margin from Chitwan-2 constituency, marking his third consecutive victory with 54,402 votes against his nearest rival NC's Mina Kumari Kharel, who received 14,564 votes.
According to the Election Commission, former prime minister and NCP leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda won from Rukum Purba district by securing 10,240 votes against his rival Lilamani Gautam of CPN-(UML), who got 3,462 votes.
RPP's Gyanendra Shahi won from the Jumla constituency of Karnali province by defeating his closest rival Naresh Bhandari of the NCP and became the only candidate of the pro-monarchist RPP to have secured a seat in the House of Representatives.
The election also saw 10 women candidates win, nine of them from the RSP while one from NC.
Meanwhile, the RSP is also leading in proportional voting system with the party bagging 474,266 votes followed by Nepali Congress with 160,384. The CPN (UML) has received 127,841, Nepali Communist Party 65,363, the RPP 34,154, and Shrama Shakti Party 17,437 votes till now.
Out of a total of 275 members of the Parliament, 165 are being elected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 through a proportionate method.
Around 3,400 candidates were vying for 165 seats under direct voting, and 3,135 candidates for 110 seats through proportionate voting.
The Gen Z youth, through their two-day intensified protests on September 8 and 9 last year, ousted Prime Minister Oli of the CPN-(UML), who was heading a coalition government with the backing of Nepali Congress that enjoyed nearly two-thirds majority support.
Though Balen was a popular choice to lead the interim government after Oli's ouster, he declined to lead the interim administration, saying he would prefer to contest the parliamentary election for a full term.
In January, he joined the RSP and was soon declared the party's prime ministerial candidate.
The major issues raised by Gen Z before and during the election campaign were anti-corruption, good governance, an end to nepotism, generational change in political leadership, etc.
Sunil Babu Pant, former MP and a political analyst, said, “The victory of Rastriya Swatantra Party in the March 5 elections and the expectation that Balen Shah could emerge as Nepal's next Prime Minister reflects the people's deep rooted frustration with the old political order and their hope for a new direction.”
“As Balen assumes the country's leadership, his first responsibility must be to demonstrate that corruption will not be tolerated under any circumstances,” he said.
Balen will also face a complex geopolitical challenge, Pant said, adding, “He must prove that he is not a puppet of any external power, western or otherwise. Nepal's leadership must carefully balance relations with all global actors and pursue an independent foreign policy that prioritises the national interest.”
