Nepal PM Oli loses vote of confidence

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  Nepal PM Oli loses vote of confidence

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• The story: Nepal's Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli lost a trust vote in the House of Representatives, pushing the country into deeper political turmoil just as there was a record surge in Covid-19 cases.
• The events: PM Oli lost the vote of confidence motion, days after the Nepal Communist Party Maoist Centre led by Pushpakamal Dahal ‘Prachanda' withdrew its support, reducing the government to a minority. Oli had decided to seek the trust of the 275-member House on his government, but managed to garner only 93 votes, falling short of 43 votes to reach the 136-mark to win the vote of confidence during a special session of the lower house.

1. A total of 124 members voted against the confidence motion while 15 members stayed neutral, as per Speaker Agni Sapkota. 
2. The session was attended by 232 lawmakers. With this, Prime Minister Oli was automatically relieved from his post as per Article 100 (3) of the Constitution.
3. After Oli lost the trust vote and became a caretaker prime minister, President Bidya Devi Bhandari called on political parties to form a majority government within next three days.
4. The Office of the President said the President has decided to call on parties to form a majority government as per Article 76 (2) of the Constitution. According to the provision two or more parties can form a majority government.
5. During the voting, some 28 lawmakers belonging to Oli's rival faction led by Madhav Nepal-Jhala Nath Khanal abstained.
6. The main Opposition Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), which control 61 and 49 votes, respectively, voted against Oli's trust motion.
7. With Oli failing the trust vote, the President needs to invoke Article 76 (2) to form a new government. It says in cases where no party has a clear majority in the House, the President shall appoint as the prime minister a member of the House who can command majority with the support of two or more parties in the House of Representatives.
8. That could provide the Nepali Congress an opportunity to form a government with the backing of the Maoist Centre. But the two parties fall short of around 26 seats to form a new government, The Kathmandu Post reported.

• Status: Oli currently is the leader of a party that has the highest number of members in the House. If Oli is appointed under the Constitution, he also needs to win the vote of confidence within 30 days from the date of the appointment. The prime minister appointed in this manner also needs to secure a vote of confidence within 30 days. Failure to do so would lead to House dissolution. 
• Crisis: Nepal had plunged into a political crisis on December 20 last year after President Bhandari dissolved the House and announced fresh elections on April 30 and May 10 at the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli, amidst a tussle for power within the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP). Oli's move to dissolve the House sparked protests from a large section of the NCP led by his rival 'Prachanda'. In February, the apex court reinstated the dissolved House, in a setback to Oli who was then preparing for snap polls.
• Pro-China: Known for his pro-China stance, Oli had earlier served as the country's prime minister from October 11, 2015 to August 3, 2016 during which Kathmandu's ties with New Delhi had strained. Oli lost the confidence vote on a day when Nepal recorded the highest single day COVID-19 death tally of 139 in the past 24 hours. According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal also recorded as many as 9,271 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Both new infections and deaths have risen sharply after Nepal logged Covid-19 cases in four digits on April 18.

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

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