Nepal PM secures vote of confidence in Parliament, despite obstruction from opposition

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal secured a vote of confidence on Monday amid protest by Opposition Nepali Congress.

The vote of confidence by Dahal in the House of Representatives, marked the fourth such vote since he assumed power in December 2022.

Dahal received 157 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives while one member abstained while none voted against the motion.

A total of 158 lawmakers took part in the voting. The prime minister required at least 138 votes to prove majority in favour of the trust motion.

Members of the main opposition Nepali Congress, which is the largest party in the lower house, did not participate in the voting as they were staging protests in the House.

Soon after Speaker Devraj Ghimire announced commencement of the House proceedings, Congress lawmakers gathered around the well and chanted slogans demanding a probe against Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane for his alleged involvement in cooperative scam.

The prime minister had sought the vote of confidence as per Article 100 (2) of the constitution after the Janata Samajbadi Party, Nepal withdrew its support to the government following a split on May 5.

Dahal had gone for the floor test for the first time on January 10, 2023. He had received 268 votes then.

The prime minister won the trust motion for the second time only three months later as he broke ties with the CPN-UML and forged an alliance with the Nepali Congress. He secured the support of 172 lawmakers at the time.

He had to seek the vote of confidence for a third time after Congress withdrew its support to the government after Dahal again broke the alliance with Congress and joined hands with the CPN-UML and other parties on March 4.

He had received 157 votes then. The next meeting of the House of Representatives is scheduled for 11 am tomorrow.