Nepal PM Prachanda loses floor test, will step down after less than 20 months in power

Nepal Prime MinisterPushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' will be stepping down from the position after less than 20 months in power, after he lost the fifth vote of confidence in Parliament on Friday (July 12). Just 63 membersof the 275-member House of Representatives supported the motion that Prachanda moved. A total of 194 members opposed the motion and one abstained.

Prachanda had been in power for around 19 months. Former Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli will now become the new PM of Nepal.A report by the Indian Express said that shortly after Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire announced Prachanda’s defeat, members could be seen congratulating Oli.

Until the new government is formed, Prachandawill serve as the acting PM.

A frequent change of coalition partners

Prachanda enjoyed the support of the CPN-UML andNepali Congress to remain in power. But this time, his party only had the support ofCPN-Unified Socialists. Prachanda had survived the last four votes of confidence but faced defeat in the fifth.

His tenure as PM, which started in December 2022, was marked by frequent change of coalition partners.

The four votes of confidence

The first vote of confidence on January 10 last year resulted in extensive support for Prachanda when hegot a staggering 99 per cent vote, the highest in the known history of Nepal's Parliament since the establishment of democracy.A total of 268 parliamentarians out of 270 present in that meeting had voted in favour of Dahal, according to a report by the news agency PTI.

Within three 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 March 20, 2023.

In the second round of the vote of confidence, Dahal got 172 votes out of 262 lawmakers present at the time of voting.

The third and the fourth rounds of the vote of confidence happened this year on March 13 and May 20.

(With inputs from agencies)