Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Monday secured the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives, Kathmandu Post reported. As per local media report, Dahal received 157 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives. One member abstained while none voted against the motion.
Members of the main opposition Nepali Congress, which is the largest party in the lower house, did not participate in the voting as they were staging protests in the House. Soon after Speaker Devraj Ghimire announced the commencement of the House proceedings, Congress lawmakers gathered around the well and chanted slogans demanding a probe against Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane for his alleged involvement in a cooperative scam. A total of 158 lawmakers took part in the voting. The prime minister required at least 138 votes to prove a majority in favour of the trust motion.
Prachanda was confident of winning no-confidence motion
“There is no doubt that my government will survive the floor test,” Prime Minister Prachanda said at a ruling party’s programme in Kathmandu on Saturday. “The differences between the ruling alliance and opposition parties will be sorted out through dialogue,” he said.
The Prime Minister is required to take a vote of confidence within 30 days if the party the Prime Minister is representing splits or if a member of the coalition government withdraws support. The Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) withdrew its support last week while quitting the coalition government. This will be Prime Minister Prachanda's fourth vote of confidence within one and a half years after he assumed the top executive position on December 25, 2022.
The new government required at least 138 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives to win the vote of trust. Earlier on March 13, Prime Minister Dahal won his third consecutive vote of confidence. Last year, Prachanda faced a floor test after former prime minister KP Sharma Oli-led CPN-UML withdrew its support to the Prachanda-led government following a rift over backing the main opposition party’s candidate for the presidential poll.
Nepal govt in turbulence
Prachanda's support has notably declined in successive confidence votes. In January 2023, he obtained 268 votes, followed by 172 in March of the same year. His support further dwindled to just 157 votes in the third-floor test.
Currently, the ruling coalition holds a majority with 77 seats of the CPN-UML, 32 of the Maoist Centre, 21 of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, seven of the newly formed Janata Samajbadi Party and 10 seats of the CPN-Unified Socialist (CPN-US).
Meanwhile, the major political parties have agreed to form a panel to look into the misappropriation of fund by cooperatives.
(With inputs from agency)
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