Kathmandu, July 18
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has won a challenging vote of confidence in the reinstated House of Representatives meeting on Sunday.
Deuba, appointed the prime minister as per article 76(5) of the constitution on July 13, was required to prove the support of majority lawmakers in the House within one month. However, he chose to test his fate in the first week into office.
In the vote held today, Deuba secured 165 votes of the 275-member House. The other 83 voted against him. Total 249 lawmakers had cast their votes as one remained neutral.
Lawmakers representing the Nepali Congress, CPN-Maoist Centre, Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal and Rastiya Janamorcha, and some lawmakers of the CPN-UML’s Madhav Kumar Nepal-led faction voted for him. The KP Sharma Oli-led faction of the UML, and Nepal Workers and Peasants’ Party voted against him although a few of the Oli faction reportedly voted for Deuba.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party stayed neutral and some lawmakers of the UML’s Madhav Kumar Nepal faction abstained from the process.
Following the victory, the Deuba government is likely to rule the nation until early 2023 when the government has to hold the next House of Representatives elections as the House elected in late 2017 that convened its first meeting in March 2018.
However, the move is likely to divide the UML, the biggest party in the country, as the Oli leadership has already warned of expelling the lawmakers who voted in favour of Deuba.
The JSPN is already on the verge of a split as the Election Commission is hearing both sides’ arguments to decide the legality of the party. Yet, both the factions voted in favour of Deuba.
