Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal delivers a speech before a confidence vote at the parliament in Kathmandu, Nepal, July 12, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ lost a vote of confidence in Parliament on July 12 after the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) withdrew its support for his government.

Prachanda received only 63 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives (HoR) and there were 194 votes against the motion. At least 138 votes are needed to win the vote of trust. A total of 258 HoR members participated in the voting while one member abstained.

Mr. Dahal, 69, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-MC), had survived four trust votes since he assumed the prime minister’s post on December 25, 2022.

He faced the same predicament yet another time because ex-premier K.P. Sharma Oli-led Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) withdrew support from the Prachanda-led government last week after inking a power-sharing deal with the largest party in the House — the Nepali Congress (NC).

Earlier, Speaker of the HoR Dev Raj Ghimire put Prachanda’s Vote of Trust for voting according to Article 100 Clause 2 of the Constitution. After voting was completed, he announced that the Vote of Trust was defeated with a majority vote.

Speaker Ghimire will now inform President Ram Chandra Paudel, who will invite two or more political parties to stake a claim for the new government, according to Article 76 Clause 2 of the Constitution. This paves the way for the NC and the CPN-UML to form a new coalition government.

NC, CPN-UML power sharing deal

The NC has 89 seats in the HoR, while CPN-UML has 78. Their combined strength of 167 is more than the 138 required for a majority in the lower house.

Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba has already endorsed Mr. Oli as the next prime minister.

Mr. Deuba and Mr. Oli inked a 7-point deal on Monday to form a new coalition government.

According to the agreement, they will share the premiership during the remaining period of the House of Representatives — Mr. Oli will become the Prime Minister for one and a half years and then Mr. Deuba will take the seat for the rest of the period.

Prachanda, whose party had 32 seats in the HoR, was elected the Prime Minister for the third time on December 25, 2022, with the backing of CPN-UML.

Prachanda was elected the Prime Minister as per Article 76 Clause 2 of the Constitution of Nepal, which has a provision for electing a Prime Minister with the support of two or more parties.

As the HoR session began in the early afternoon, embattled Prachanda sharply criticised the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML for striking an alliance “out of fear” rather than shared principles and accused them of pushing the nation toward regression.

Prachanda voiced concerns about potential regression and autocracy, asserting that the NC and the CPN-UML had joined forces as good governance began to take root in the country.

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ is seeking to hold his third vote of confidence in Parliament by March 13, days after he forged a new alliance with the CPN-UML, a media report said on Saturday.

The third round of vote of confidence comes after Mr. Prachanda, a former guerilla leader, dumped the Nepali Congress and forged a new alliance with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) – the second-biggest party – led by former premier K.P. Sharma Oli on Monday.

During a parliamentary party meeting held on Saturday, the prime minister discussed the matter with his Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), indicating his readiness to seek a vote of confidence by March 13, Nepalese news portal, khabarhub.com reported.

The CPN (Maoist Centre) also issued a whip to its lawmakers, instructing them not to leave the Kathmandu Valley in the days leading up to the election of the National Assembly Chairman and the anticipated date for Prachanda’s floor test, the report said.

The lower House of Parliament – House of Representatives – has been summoned for a session on March 13.

The party directed its lawmakers that they should be present in Parliament when the prime minister seeks a vote of confidence. According to Nepalese media, the new coalition has enough seats in the 275-member Parliament.

The election for the post of the Chairman of the upper House of Parliament has been scheduled for March 12, according to The Kathmandu Post newspaper.

Mr. Prachanda became the prime minister for the third term with the support of the Nepali Congress on December 25, 2022. His party is the third-largest group in the House of Representatives.

After breaking the alliance with the Nepali Congress –the largest party in the House of Representatives– Prachanda joined hands with Oli, who was regarded as Prachanda’s top critic.

Last year, Mr. Prachanda faced a floor test after the CPN-UML withdrew its support to the Prachanda-led government following a rift over backing the main opposition party’s candidate for the presidential poll.

The CPN-UML secured 78 seats, followed by the Maoist Centre, which got 32 seats.

The RSP, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janata Samajwadi Party and CPN-Unified Socialist won 20, 14, 12 and 10 seats respectively.

In the 2017 election, Prachanda and Oli merged their parties and secured a comfortable majority. Oli became the prime minister, but their partnership ended halfway following differences between them.