UML's Rawal fails floor test, NUP votes against him
Kathmandu/Dhangadi, February 9
Kamal Shah of the Nepali Congress was appointed the chief minister of Sudurpaschim today after CPN- UML's Rajendra Singh Rawal, who was appointed the CM earlier, failed to secure trust vote within 30 days of his appointment.
Provincial Governor Devraj Joshi appointed him as the chief minister. He will be administered the oath of office and secrecy tomorrow.
Rawal became the chief minister on January 11 with the support of 29 members of the provincial assembly, including 11 of the CPN-Maoist Centre, 10 of the CPN-UML, seven of the Nagrik Unmukti Party, and one of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party.
In the 53-member PA,Rawal needed the support of 27 members, but the seven NUP members didn't vote for him during the floor test.
Though CPN-MC's Khagraj Bhatt and UML's Santosh Thapa were appointed ministers on January 11, Rawal could neither assign responsibilities to the ministers nor expand the Cabinet in all these days.
Since the Nepali Congress, with 19 members, is the second largest party in the PA, Shah, who is its parliamentary party leader in the PA, was appointed the new CM in accordance with Article 168 (3) of the constitution after Rawal failed the floor test.
CPN (Unified Socialist) has four PA members and there is one independent lawmaker.
Meanwhile, Rawal has submitted his resignation to Joshi.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 10, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
