In Brief:

• Kiran Thapa Magar wins confidence vote with 57 votes
• Needed 53 votes to prove majority in 104-member Assembly
• Backed by 26 NCP, 24 UML and 7 RPP lawmakers
• Opposition parties absent, including Congress, HNP and NWPP
• RPP split evident as five lawmakers skipped vote

HETAUDA, AUGUST 26 Bagmati Chief Minister Kiran Thapa Magar secured a vote of confidence on Tuesday, winning 57 votes in the 104-member Provincial Assembly despite the absence of the main opposition parties. Thapa needed at least 53 votes to prove his majority. He received the backing of 26 Nepali Communist Party (NCP) lawmakers, 24 CPN-UML lawmakers and seven Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) lawmakers. Lawmakers from the Nepali Congress, Hamro Nepali Party and Nepal Workers' Peasants Party, which are in the opposition, were absent from the meeting convened for the trust vote. The vote was held amid a new power-sharing arrangement under which the Bagmati government was formed with the support of the NCP, UML and RPP. Although the RPP has 12 seats in the Provincial Assembly, five of its lawmakers were absent from Tuesday's meeting. The source attributes their absence to divisions within the party. With 57 votes, Thapa secured a clear majority and continued as chief minister of Bagmati Province.