KATHMANDU, JANUARY 2

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is scheduled to seek a vote of confidence in the parliament on January 10.

CPN (Maoist Centre) Chair Dahal who was appointed on the post in accordance with the Article 76 (2) of the Constitution on December 25 assumed office the following day.

He was appointed the 44th Prime Minister of Nepal for third time with the support of a total of 169 lawmakers. Through a letter today, PM Dahal announced that he would be seeking the vote of confidence on the given date, according to the Federal Parliament Secretariat.

As Secretariat Spokesperson Dr Rojnath Pande said, the Prime Minister has urged the Secretariat to make arrangements towards that end. 'We received the letter from the Prime Minister that he would be receiving the vote of confidence on January 10 and have been urged to make necessary provisions for the same.'

The Prime Minister appointed as per the Article 76 (2) following the majority with the support of two or more political parties represented in the House of Representatives is constitutionally mandated to receive the vote of confidence of the House of Representatives within 30 days of appointment.

The 275-member lower house has 165 directly elected members and remaining 110 from the proportional representation system.

Lawmaker Tek Bahadur Gurung from Manang has been suspended at the moment.