Nepal’s Prime Minister wins confidence vote in Parliament despite opposition obstruction

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal won the trust vote on Monday amid opposition from the opposition Nepali Congress.

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

In the 275-member House of Representatives, Dahal received 157 votes with one member abstaining while no one voted against the motion.

A total of 158 MPs took part in the voting. The Prime Minister needed at least 138 votes to prove majority in favor of the confidence motion.

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

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

The Prime Minister had sought a trust vote in accordance with Article 100 (2) of the Constitution after the Janata Samajwadi Party, Nepal withdrew its support to the government following the split on May 5.

Dahal went for the floor test for the first time on January 10, 2023. Then he got 268 votes.

The Prime Minister won the confidence motion for the second time just three months later as he broke away from the CPN-UML and formed an alliance with the Nepali Congress. At that time he got the support of 172 MPs.

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

Then he got 157 votes. The next meeting of the House of Representatives will be held tomorrow at 11 am.