July 4, 2024
With the withdrawal of the support by the largest party in the coalition, the Dahal government has fallen in the minority.
Dahal had secured 157 votes in the 275-strong House of Representatives when he sought a trust vote on May 20. Of them, the CPN-UML has 77 members while the prime minister’s CPN (Maoist Centre), which is third-largest in the House, has only 32 seats.
The prime minister now needs to secure a vote of confidence from the parliament within 30 days to stay in power and is unlikely to win the trust vote, given the current political equation.
The UML has eight ministers in the Dahal Cabinet, including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghubir Mahaseth. The UML joined the Dahal government on March 5, after Prime Minister Dahal allied with the UML, ditching its year-long partnership with the Congress.
Earlier on Tuesday, the UML had formally requested Prime Minister Dahal to tender his resignation by Wednesday evening. The party’s secretariat meeting decided to urge Prime Minister Dahal to step down to pave the way for the formation of a government in accordance with Article 76 (2) of the constitution.
The UML and Congress on Monday night agreed to form a new government. As per the understanding, Oli will lead a new ‘national consensus’ government for a year and a half. For the remaining term, Deuba will be the prime minister.
Prime Minister Dahal, however, has expressed reluctance to resign immediately. The office-bearers’ meeting of the CPN (Maoist Centre) held in Baluwatar on Tuesday morning decided that the prime minister will not tender his resignation but instead face a trust vote in Parliament.