Kathmandu, Nepal, January 3, 2023: Newly appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has decided to seek the vote of confidence in the Parliament on January 10.
Prime Minister Dahal on Monday requested the parliament secretariat to arrange to table the agenda of the vote of confidence in parliament on January 10.
President Bidhya Devi Bhandari has already called the first session of the new Parliament on January 9 after the general elections held on November 20, 2022.
The letter sent by the Prime Minister to include the subject of vote of confidence on the agenda of the Parliament on the 10th of January has been received, Rojnath Pandey, the spokesperson of the Parliament Secretariat, said on Monday.
There is a constitutional provision that a person who has become the first Prime Minister should take a vote of confidence within 30 days of swearing into office.
CPN Maoist Center chairman Dahal was appointed as the country's 44th Prime Minister on December 25 in the backing of 169 members of seven parties- UML, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Janta Samajwadi Party (JSP), Janamat Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party and three independent lawmakers in the 275-member House of Representatives (HoR) as per the Article 76 (2) of the Constitution. He requires at least 138 votes to win the vote of confidence motion.
Prime Minister Dahal has put on hold the cabinet expansion process until taking vote of confidence from the parliament fearing that possible differences among the ruling alliance over the issue of division of posts would jeopardize to win vote of confidence.
As per the power-sharing deal reached between the ruling allies, particularly the UML and the Maoist Center, the former one will get the post of president while the post speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) will be divided on the rotational basis among the two parties. However, other constitutional posts including the vice president, deputy speaker and others are yet to be divided.
