Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda To Face Second Vote Of Confidence Today

While talking to reporters outside of the Parliament building, Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' said that he hopes to get every single vote on Monday.

Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' is all set to face a vote of confidence in Parliament on Monday. This will be the second floor test for his government within the span of three months

Prachanda exuded confidence on Sunday that he will easily win this vote of confidence, reported news agency PTI.

The reason for the 68-year-old Prime Minister seeking the vote of confidence is because two out of the seven-party alliance viz. Rastriya Prajatantra Party and CPN-UML withdrew their support. Both parties refused to support and endorse the Prime Minister's proposal to back Ramchandra Paudel, the Nepali Congress leader for the post of President.

He was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Nepal in December and passed the first floor test on January 10 with flying colours. Prachanda secured 268 votes of support in the 275-member House of Representatives. All parties except for Nepal Workers and Peasants Party and the Rastriya Janamorcha voted in favour of his government.

While talking to reporters outside of the Parliament building, Prachanda said that he hopes to get every single vote on Monday. He said, "Last time, I received support from 99 per cent members of the House of Representatives, and I hope, this time I will get one hundred per cent votes."

The 10 parties that make up the coalition are Nepali Congress, CPN (Unified Socialist), CPN-Maoist Centre, Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal, Janamat Party, Rastriya Jan Morcha, Nagarik Unmukti Party, Loktantrik Samajwadi Party-Nepal, Nepal Samajwadi Party, and Aam Janata Party.

The largest party in the HoR, the Nepali Congress, has agreed to back Prachanda and join the government after the vote of confidence is completed.

“Nepali Congress has decided to back the Prachanda-led government during the vote of confidence and our party will join the government once the vote of confidence is passed,” PTI quoted senior leader of the party Prakash Man Singh as saying.

Prachanda now has the support of the Nepali Congress, Rastriya Swotantra Party, and CPN-Unified Socialist, which is enough for the premier to pass the vote of confidence.

The parties' combined strength of 151 is adequate because 138 votes are required to win the vote of confidence in the 275-member HoR.