Fifteen days after the formation of the government, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal also known as Prachanda is set to face a vote of confidence on January 10.
Prachanda asks for floor test on second Monday of the month
Appointed as the Himalayan nation's Prime Minister for the third time on December 26, 2022, Dahal on Monday requested the parliament secretariat to include in the agenda a floor test on the second Tuesday of this month.
"The Prime Minister has sent a letter to include the subject of a vote of confidence on the agenda of the Parliament on 10 January," the spokesperson of the Parliament Secretariat Rojnath Pandey told ANI.
PM has to submit vote of confidence within a month: Nepal's constitution
In accordance with Article 76 of the Constitution, Dahal was elected prime minister with the backing of seven parties. A constitutional requirement states that the Prime Minister must submit a vote of confidence within one month after taking the oath of office.
The first meeting of the new House of Representatives is scheduled to be held on January 9. PM Dahal is going to take the vote of confidence a day after the parliament starts. With the test of the floor, Dahal is also expected to expand his cabinet, which he had promised after getting over the floor test.
Prachanda has support of 169 members of parliament
Dahal, also known by his nom de guerre Prachanda, was appointed PM after he secured the support of 169 members of the Parliament to form the new government. He served as Prime Minister of Nepal from 2008 to 2009 and again from 2016 to 2017. Prachanda approached the President for his appointment as Prime Minister on December 25, after a coalition of six parties decided to support him to form the next government.
Former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's Communist Party of Nepal--Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) is among the parties in the new ruling coalition. Prachanda and Oli have struck an agreement to govern the country on a rotational basis, with Oli agreeing to make Prachanda Prime Minister first as per the latter's demand.
Oli and Prachanda patch up after the split last year
Ironically, in 2021, it was after the Prachanda and Oli split that Sher Bahadur Deuba came to power in Kathmandu, with support from Prachanda.
In the new coalition, the CPN-UML has 78, Maoist Center 32, Rashtriya Swatantra Party 20, Rashtriya Prajatantra Party 14, Janata Samajbadi Party 12, Janamat Party 6 and Nagarik Unmukti Party has four MPs. Three independent lawmakers are also supporting Prachanda.
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