Nepal PM, Opposition at loggerhead; rift widens further after vote of confidence

Kathmandu [Nepal], May 20 : The rift has widened between Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' and the Opposition's Nepali Congress after Monday's vote of confidence.

PM Dahal warned the Nepali Congress that it would pay a heavy price for the obstruction which it continued on Monday as well, attempting to prevent the tabling and moving ahead with the vote of confidence motion.

[{d833631a-0096-411e-a156-d10d1fe7e578:intradmin/ANI-20240520121200.jpeg}]

On Monday, the Nepal House Speaker, Debraj Ghimire, proceeded with the vote of confidence deploying parliamentary marshals to escort the Prime Minister and the leader of the ruling parties.

"I would like to make special reference to the honourable members of the parliament, especially those from the opposition Nepali Congress, you have today done some dreadful things. In Nepal's history, a Prime Minister who extended his hand time and again and this time as well, the same Prime Minister had attempted to bring you all to the table of talks and dialogue you are obstructing them from taking the vote of confidence. You have presented a negative record in history," PM Dahal said from the rostrum of parliament after being escorted through the protesting lawmakers of the opposition Congress.

"I express my deepest regrets for it. For the Nepali Congress, this would cost very dearly

in the future. It would be embarked in the history of Nepal in a negative way," Dahal further warned.

Soon after the conclusion of the process of vote of confidence, the opposition Nepali Congress labelled suppression by the ruling alliance "undemocratic" and "authoritarian". The Spokesperson of the Nepali Congress alleged the move by the ruling alliance was an attempt to weaken the implementation of the constitution.

Prakash Sharan Mahat, Nepali Congress, stated, "There was no immediacy for the Prime Minister to take the vote of confidence but he went for it. In parliamentary history, there was no record where the vote of confidence proceeded further despite the protest by the opposition party, while they stood in the well, raising their demands. A new negative precedent has been set today. The progressive constitution which we have adopted is being disowned by the members of the ruling alliance. They are on the way to weaken the constitution."

Early in the afternoon, Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda had secured a vote of confidence for the fourth time. House Speaker Debraj Ghimire announced the results of the vote of confidence amid the protest by the Nepali Congress lawmakers who had picketed the well of the parliament.

Debraj Ghimire, Nepal House of Representatives Speaker, said, "The total number of members of parliament who voted in today's parliament stands at 158. Honourable Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Prachanda had tabled a vote of confidence as per Article 100 (2) of the constitution, which garnered a total of 157 votes in favour, zero in against and one abstained. Honourable Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, as per the Constitution of Nepal Article 100 (2) has won the vote of confidence motion that he had tabled in the House of Representatives."

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

The vote of confidence was conducted amidst vocal dissent from key opposition parties, such as the Nepali Congress, Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, and Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal.

Earlier on March 4, Dahal made a surprising turn by deciding to revive a coalition with the CPN-UML which caught the largest coalition partner, the Nepali Congress, off guard.

A new coalition including the CPN-UML, CPN-Maoist Center, Rastriya Swatantra Party, and Janata Samajwadi Party was initially formed. On March 5, the Nepali Congress formally retracted support to the Dahal government activating the Article 100 Sub-section (2). A Prime Minister is required to cross the threshold of 50 percent which is 138 votes as per the present number of parliamentarians.

The Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal walked out of the government after the formal split and now is in opposition. The former Maoist rebel leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda came to power in December 2022 when he aligned with arch-rival CPN-UML duping the Nepali Congress with whom he had allied in the November 2022 election.

The vote of confidence on January 10, 2023, resulted in extensive support for Dahal when he got a staggering 99 per cent vote, the highest in the known history of the Nepali Parliament since the establishment of democracy. A total of 268 parliamentarians out of 270 present in that meeting had voted in favour of Dahal.

Within 3 months, Dahal dumped CPN-UML to walk out of government again aligning with Nepali Congress and managed to secure a majority in the vote of confidence on 20 March 2023.

In the second round of the vote of confidence, Dahal got 172 votes out of 262 lawmakers present at the time of voting. Only 89 votes came in against Dahal while one member abstained from voting.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor