PM seeking vote of confidence on July 12

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, July 6: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ is set to seek a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives on July 12. 

Prime Minister Prachanda, who recently lost support from the CPN-UML, one of the major coalition partners, will seek a vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (HoR). 

Prime Minister Prachanda has sent a letter to the Federal Parliament Secretariat, requesting that the agenda for a vote of confidence be included in the parliamentary session scheduled for that day.

As per Article 100 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal, the Prime Minister should table a motion in the House of Representatives for a vote of confidence within 30 days if any political party in a coalition government withdraws its support. On July 3, the UML withdrew its support and eight ministers from the party resigned en masse. 

The CPN-UML has already informed the Federal Parliament Secretariat about the withdrawal of its support to the government. 

The UML withdrew its support to the government after reaching an agreement with Nepali on Monday to form a new UML-NC government to replace the ruling coalition. 

With the formation of a new alliance between UML and NC, the present government has fallen into a minority.

Prime Minister Prachanda chose to go for the floor test instead of resigning from his post. 

He requires 138 votes to prove his majority, which looks impossible as the NC and UML enjoy a comfortable majority in the 275-member House of Representatives. 

The Nepali Congress, which is the largest party, has 88 seats, while the second largest party 

CPN-UML has 79 seats, including the Speaker. 

The ruling party CPN (Maoist Centre) has 32 seats and the Rastriya Swatantra Party has 21 seats. 

This is the fifth time PM Prachanda is seeking a vote of confidence within a term of one and a half years.