Nepal’s new PM Oli wins vote of confidence in Parliament; secures two-thirds majority

Kathmandu, Jul 21 (PTI) Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli won a crucial floor test in Parliament on Sunday with more than two-thirds of lawmakers voting in his favour, nearly a week after he was sworn in to lead a coalition government in the politically unstable Himalayan nation.

Oli secured 188 votes in favour of the Vote of Confidence motion tabled by him while 74 votes were cast against him. Out of a total of 263 members of the House of Representatives who were present, one member abstained.

Oli, 72, required 138 votes to pass the floor test in the lower house of Parliament.

“I declare that the motion of the vote of confidence tabled by Prime Minister Oli has been endorsed with a majority,” announced Speaker Devraj Ghimire after the counting of votes.

According to Nepal’s Constitution, Oli needed to secure a vote of confidence from Parliament within 30 days of appointment. He was sworn in on Monday as Nepal’s Prime Minister for a fourth time.

Earlier while tabling the motion seeking a vote of confidence in his government, Oli made public the content of the seven-point agreement reached between the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML earlier this month.

Oli said that the agreement between the two major parties was part of the two largest parties’ efforts to address the country’s pressing issues.

“We [the two parties] compete in our ideologies, but there are instances of collaboration between the Congress and the UML,” he said.

“This is a continuation of that collaboration. We have agreed to work together to protect national interests, control corruption, improve governance, expedite development activities, and ensure political stability, in accordance with the public desire,” Oli said.

Oli said his government will neither tolerate corruption nor let it happen. He said the government will confidently move forward for good governance.

Responding to issues raised by the HoR members Oli said, “I was not and will not get involved in corruption neither will tolerate if any one practices so.”

House of Representatives members belonging to the ruling alliance Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, Lokatantrik Samajwadi Party and Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal were among those who voted in favour of Oli’s Vote of Confidence motion.

Opposition parties CPN-Maoist Centre, CPN-Unified Socialist, Rashtriya Swotantra Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party among others voted against Oli during the floor test.

The veteran Communist leader was sworn in on Monday as the Himalayan nation’s prime minister and was administered the oath of office and secrecy along with 21 other members of the Cabinet.

Meanwhile, Nepal’s Supreme Court on Sunday forwarded a petition challenging Oli’s appointment as the country’s prime minister to a constitutional bench, citing the need for a ‘serious constitutional interpretation’.

Within hours of his swearing-in on Monday, three advocates filed the petition at the apex court, arguing that Oli’s appointment was unconstitutional and sought a mandamus order to annul it.

The Chairman of the CPN-UML, Nepal’s largest communist party was appointed as prime minister on Sunday by President Ram Chandra Paudel to lead the coalition government with the Nepali Congress (NC), the largest party in Parliament, apart from other smaller parties.

Oli succeeded Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda,’ who lost the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives on July 12.

The CPN-UML Chairman now leads the new coalition government that faces the daunting challenge of providing political stability in the Himalayan nation.

Nepal has faced frequent political turmoil as the country has seen 14 governments in the past 16 years after the introduction of the Republican system.