Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli loses vote of confidence in Parliament

President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Monday evening called on political parties to form a new government by Thursday evening. This call came after PM KP Sharma Oli failed to secure a vote of confidence in Parliament on Monday.

Oli needed 136 votes to win the trust vote in the 271-member House of Representatives. But of the 232 lawmakers present in Monday’s House meeting, only 93 voted in his favour. A total of 124 votes were cast against him.

Nepali Congress had earlier decided to vote against the motion while the Mahato-Thakur faction of Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal decided to stay neutral and not vote in favour of Oli, as opposed to their earlier promise of doing so.

As many as 28 lawmakers of the Nepal-Khanal faction were absent during Monday’s voting and are likely to lose their House seats for defying the party whip.

As of now, the Congress and the Maoist Centre are not in a position to form a new government, as they command a total of 110 votes together–short of 26 to reach the majority number of 136. If the opposition parties fail to form a government, the House will need to be dissolved and the country will move towards fresh elections.

In December last year, Oli got the President to unilaterally dissolve the House. The President also announced fresh elections in April and May. However, the dissolved House was reinstated by the Supreme Court earlier this year.

Last week, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) — a faction led by Pushpakamal Dahal 'Prachanda' — withdrew support to the government, leaving it without a majority in the House. The party said that the Oli government had breached the Constitution and their recent activities posed a threat to the democratic process and national sovereignty.

Monday’s voting may have reduced Oli to a caretaker PM, but analysts say that he has not lost the game yet, as politically he could emerge as the victor anytime soon. At what cost he will regain power, is something different.

India is closely tracking this political twist, especially after a rift between relations of the two countries because of the border disputes last summer under Oli’s leadership.

Source: kathmandupost.com, thehimalayantimes.com, indianexpress.com

Written by Siddhant Sharma