PM Dahal loses vote of confidence in Parliament
Vote of confidence the meeting on Friday
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has lost a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives (HoR) today.
In the HoR meeting, 63 lawmakers voted in favor of the motion, 194 voted against it, and 1 remained neutral, resulting in PM Dahal’s loss.
In the 275-member House of Representatives, 138 votes are required for a majority. Members of Parliament (MPs) have three options for casting their votes: in favor of the trust motion, against it, or remaining neutral. The PM received 21 votes from Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and 10 votes from CPN (US), in addition to his party’s 32 votes.
As two of the largest political parties in Nepal, Nepali Congress, has 88 members, while CPN-UML has 79 members.
During today’s meeting, PM Dahal presented a list of achievements before the HoR discussed the vote of confidence, followed by the voting process for the motion. In the previous vote of confidence motion in January 2023, PM Dahal had received 268 votes.
PM Dahal sought the vote of confidence after the CPN-UML withdrew its support from the coalition government on July 3. Exercising his constitutional rights, PM Dahal chose not to resign but to face the Parliament for the vote. As per Article 100 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal, the PM must table a motion in HoR for a 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. The CPN-UML and Nepali Congress issued whips to their members to vote against the PM. Similarly, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janamat Party, Janata Samajwadi Party, Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, and Nagarik Unmukti Party decided to vote against the PM. Meanwhile, the Rastriya Swatantra Party asked its MPs to vote for the PM.
As PM Dahal failed to receive a vote of confidence in Parliament, President Ram Chandra Paudel will have to call for the formation of a new government.
