KATHMANDU, JULY 5
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' is set to seek a vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (HoR) on July 12.
PM Dahal has sent a letter to the Federal Parliament Secretariat requesting to include the agenda for a vote of confidence in the parliamentary session that day.
As per Article 100 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal, the PM should table a motion in HoR for the vote of confidence within 30 days if a political party in a coalition government withdraws its support to the Prime Minister.
On July 1, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML agreed to form a new power alliance and establish a new national consensus government, wherein the two parties would take turns leading the government and continue with the constitutional reform process. Following this agreement, both NC and CPN-UML urged the PM to resign and pave the way for the formation of a new national government. However, PM Dahal refused to resign and decided to face the Parliament and take a vote of confidence from the HoR, exercising his constitutional rights.
In response, CPN-UML retracted their support from the coalition government, and CPN-UML ministers resigned en masse on July 3.
Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has decided not to recall ministers immediately, despite earlier announcements that they would leave the government. RSP ministers returned without submitting their resignations from the Prime Minister's official residence in Baluwatar on Thursday.
In the parliament, Nepali Congress has 88 members, CPN-UML has 79 members, while the Prime Minister's CPN-MC, the House's third-largest party, has only 32 seats. The Rastriya Swatantra Party led by Rabi Lamichhane has 21 members. However, the Dahal government is now in the minority after losing support from the coalition's largest party.
In the 275-member House of Representatives, 138 votes are required for a majority.
