Nepal’s Oli govt loses majority support after Maoist party withdraws support

Kathmandu, May 5

Nepal’s embattled Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli-led government on Wednesday lost majority support in the House of Representatives after the CPN (Maoist Center) led by Pushpakamal Dahal “Prachanda” officially withdrew support to it.

The party submitted a letter to this effect to the Parliament Secretariat, informing about its decision to withdraw support to the government, according to a senior leader of the party, Ganesh Shah.

Chief Whip of the Maoist Center Dev Gurung handed over the letter to officials at the Parliament Secretariat, he said.

After handing over the letter, Gurung told the media persons that the party decided to withdraw support to the Oli government as the government had breached the Constitution and the government’s recent activities have posed threat to democratic procedures and national sovereignty.   

After the withdrawal of support, the Oli government has lost its majority in the House of Representatives.

The decision of the Maoist party to withdraw support to the government comes two days after Oli announced that he will seek a vote of confidence in Parliament on May 10.

The Maoist Center has a total of 49 lawmakers in the lower house.

Since the ruling CPN-UML has a total of 121 lawmakers, Prime Minister Oli is short of 15 lawmakers to save his government in the 275-member House.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Oli on Wednesday visited the residence of main Opposition leader Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba at Budhanilkantha, 10 km north of Kathmandu, to seek his support to save the government.

The two leaders discussed the latest political developments in the country, according to sources close to Nepali Congress.

Nepal plunged into a political crisis on December 20 last year after President Bidya Devi 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’, also a co-chair of the ruling party.

In February, the apex court reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives, in a setback to embattled Prime Minister Oli who was preparing for snap polls.

A five-member Constitutional Bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR annulled the government’s decision to dissolve the lower house of Parliament and ordered the government to summon the House session within the next 13 days.

Oli repeatedly defended his move to dissolve the House of Representatives, saying some leaders of his party were attempting to form a “parallel government”.

As many as 13 writ petitions were filed at the apex court seeking the restoration of the lower house of Parliament. PTI