The Second Oli cabinet, also known as the Oli cabinet, 2018, was the

Government of Nepal The Government of Nepal () is the central executive authority of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. The government is led by the Prime Minister of Nepal, prime minister (K. P. Sharma Oli, K.P. Oli since 15 July 2024) who selects all the o ...

from 15 February 2018 to 13 July 2021. It initially formed as a majority coalition on 15 February 2018, after Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli was elected as the new

Prime Minister of Nepal The prime minister of Nepal (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of Nepal. The prime minister leads the Council of Ministers of Nepal, Council of Ministers and holds the chief executive authority in the country. They must maintain ...

following the 2017 general election. Oli's candidacy was supported by the

Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) (; Abbreviation, abbr. CPN (UML)) is a Communism in Nepal, communist List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal. The party emerged as one of the major parties in Nepal af ...

and the

Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) (), abbreviated CPN (Maoist Centre) or CPN (MC), is the third largest List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal and a member party of Socialist Front (Nepal), Samajbadi Morcha. I ...

. He assumed his office with two ministers and the remaining ministers were added at later points. The CPN (Maoist Centre) withdrew its support from the government in May 2021, reducing it to a minority, and after the dissolution of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

, it turned into an interim government. The cabinet was replaced by the fifth Deuba cabinet, formed after the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ordered the appointment of

Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ; Abbreviation, abbr. NC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal and the largest party in the country ...

president

Sher Bahadur Deuba Sher Bahadur Deuba (, ; born 13 June 1946, Ashigram, Kingdom of Nepal) is a Nepali politician and former prime minister of Nepal. He has also been serving as the president of the Nepali Congress since 2016. Deuba has served five terms as prime ...

as prime minister under Article 76 (5) of the

Constitution of Nepal The Constitution of Nepal () is the present governing Constitution of Nepal. Nepal is governed according to the Constitution which came into effect on 20 September 2015, replacing the Interim Constitution of 2007. The constitution of Nepal is di ...

. Despite the name, the cabinet is not an extension of the first Oli cabinet, because two different cabinets by two different prime ministers separated both Oli cabinets. Apart from prime minister Oli, only four other ministers served in both cabinets: Giriraj Mani Pokharel and Shakti Bahadur Basnet, from in the beginning, and

Bishnu Prasad Paudel Bishnu Prasad Paudel () is a Nepalese politician, who is the vice-chairman of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist). Paudel served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal, Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance (Nepal), Minis ...

and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi from a later rearrangement. Pokharel headed the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

while Paudel headed the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

both times, whereas Basnet and Rayamajhi served in two different ministries in the two cabinets.

History

The

set the maximum numbers of ministers including state ministers to 25. However, Oli decided to have 17 ministries under him, which is less than the previous cabinets, each around 30 ministries. On 26 February 2018, it increased by seven more ministers to 22 ministries. On 16 March 2018, the addition of three state ministers brought the number of cabinet members to 25. On 11 March 2018, Oli won a

motion of confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

with 208 of 268 in the 275-member

. On 17 May 2018, the

and the

merged to form the

Nepal Communist Party The Nepal Communist Party, abbreviated NCP (, ) was a communist party in Nepal that existed from 2018 to 2021. It was founded on 17 May 2018, from the unification of two Left-wing politics, leftist parties, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified M ...

, giving the Oli government a majority in both houses of the federal parliament. On 28 May 2018, the Federal Socialist Forum, which would later merge into the Samajbadi Party on 6 May 2019, joined the government. The Samajbadi Party left the government on 24 December 2019. Further reshuffles were on 20 November 2019 and 14 October 2020. A major reshuffle took place on 25 December 2020 after several ministers resigned in protest of Oli's move to recommend the dissolution of the House of Representatives which was approved by the president, although later overturned by the

. All ministers were in the

until 7 March 2021, when the party was dissolved by the Supreme Court. The verdict invalidated the ruling party, reviving the former CPN (UML) and CPN (Maoist Centre) parties. This reduced Oli's government back to a coalition government. The CPN (Maoist Centre) recalled its ministers on 13 March 2021 and withdrew its support from the government on 5 May 2021, turning it into a minority government. After Oli failed a vote of confidence in the parliament, his government was reduced to a caretaker capacity. Oli became a minority prime minister on 13 May 2021 by president Bidya Devi Bhandari, as no opposition party formed a majority government or claimed it in time. Citing Article 76 (3) of the constitution, Oli, leading the largest party in the House of Representatives, was re-appointed prime minister, requiring him to again form a majority in the house within 30 days. Following the dissolution of the House of Representatives by the president at midnight on 22 May 2021, the Oli government turned into an interim government until elections on 12 and 19 November 2021. Another major reshuffle took place on 4 June 2021, after the CPN (UML) formed a coalition with a faction of the People's Socialist Party, after negotiations awarded ten ministerial berths to the faction led by Mahantha Thakur and Rajendra Mahato. The cabinet was further expanded on 10 June 2021. The Supreme Court, on 22 June 2021, stayed the cabinet expansion and reshuffle by Prime Minister Oli. The petitioners claimed that a government formed under article 76 (3) of the constitution with a caretaker status cannot expand or reshuffle the cabinet. Twenty ministers (including three deputy prime ministers) appointed on 4 and 10 June 2021 were dismissed from their post.

remained minister of

Finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

from 14 October 2020, but no longer elevated to

deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

like he was on 4 June 2021. Prime Minister Oli thereafter divided the portfolios among the five remaining cabinet members on 24 June 2021.

Dissolution

On 12 July 2021, the

ruled that the president's decision to dissolve the House of Representatives on the recommendation of prime minister Oli was unconstitutional and ordered the appointment of

president

as prime minister within 28 hours, after the opposition filed writs against the dissolution. President Bhandari appointed Deuba as the prime minister in accordance with Article 76 (5) of the

, and he was sworn in for a fifth term on 13 July 2021.

Final arrangement

Previous arrangements

4–22 June 2021

December 2020 – June 2021

October – December 2020

November 2019 – October 2020

February 2018 – November 2019

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oli 2018 Cabinets established in 2018 Cabinets disestablished in 2021 Cabinet of Nepal 2021 disestablishments in Nepal 2018 establishments in Nepal