Nepal PM Dahal secures trust vote for the fourth time

May 20, 2024 11:41 am

Kathmandu: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Monday secured the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives.

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

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.

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.

This is the fourth time Dahal secured a vote of trust in the parliament after he became prime minister in December 2022 with the support of the CPN-UML, among other parties.

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 has been scheduled for 11 am on Tuesday.