On January 10, Nepal‘s newly appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as “Prachanda,” would ask for a vote of confidence in the parliament despite doubts about the backing of his supporters.
On December 26, the 68-year-old CPN-Maoist Centre leader was sworn in for a third time as prime minister after abruptly leaving the pre-election alliance led by the Nepali Congress and joining forces with the opposition leader K.P. Sharma Oli.
Monday marked the start of Nepal’s first Parliamentary session following Mr Prachanda’s selection as prime minister.
(source- the Indian Express)
Support for Mr Prachanda
According to the My Republica newspaper, the Nepali Congress, the largest political party in parliament, is expected to vote in favour of Mr Prachanda while remaining on the opposition bench.
According to the newspaper, Prime Minister Mr Prachanda met with Sher Bahadur Deuba, the leader of the Nepali Congress, on Monday to solicit his support in parliament.
According to a politician close to Mr Deuba, “Mr Deuba has said that our party would decide whether to support the new administration following the parliamentary party meeting set for Tuesday morning.”
Mr Prachanda met with Mr Deuba in the presence of NC Vice President Purna Bahadur Khadka and Krishna Prasad Situala.
Even though a formal decision to this effect will be taken at the NC’s Parliamentary Party meeting on Tuesday, party insiders predicted that the party would likely support Mr Prachanda and continue to sit on the opposition bench.
Election held in November 2022
Nepal held its second round of parliamentary and provincial assembly (PA) elections on November 20, 2022. Voter turnout was somewhat lower (61%) than in the 2017 elections, yet the polls remained fairly peaceful.
There are 116 registered political parties in Nepal, and participation in any elections requires reregistration. This time, 275 Parliamentary seats and 550 seats for seven Pas were up for election, and more than 61 political parties and some independent candidates ran.
Source- voanews.com
As required by the constitution, both the first-past-the-post (FPTP) method (165 seats) and the proportional representation (PR) system (110) were used to conduct the elections.
The major political parties formed pre-election alliances, which were led by the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), also known as CPN-UML, in light of the country’s multicultural, multiethnic, and multi-caste society, intraregional feeling between the hills and the Terai (Nepal’s southern plains), and the political parties prior performance records.
Forged alliance for the parliamentary election
To win the parliamentary election held on November 20, the NC and CPN (Maoist Center) formed an electoral coalition.
However, the Maoist Center in an unexpected move allied with the CPN-UML to establish a new administration after it was reported that the NC declined to give Mr Prachanda the position of the prime minister as previously promised.
(source- Tribune)
The NC has 89 representatives in the 275-member House of Representatives, while the UML has 79. Rashtriya Swatantra Party has 20 members, CPN (Maoist Center) has 32, CPN (Unified Socialist) has 10, and CPN (Maoist Center) has 10.
In the parliament, the Janamat Party has six representatives, the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party four, and the Nagarik Unmukti Party three.
These alliances have nothing to do with ideologies or political allegiances. According to Article 76(2) of the Nepalese Constitution, Mr Prachanda was chosen as prime minister with the support of 169 lawmakers, including those from the UML, Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Janta Samajwadi Party (JSP), Janamat Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party, and three independents.
Political stability in Nepal
However, due to two new issues that have emerged in the wake of the elections, political observers in Nepal are concerned about the stability of the democratic system for the next five years.
Before the creation of the government, the NC-led alliance must first resolve numerous intra-party and intra-alliance political concerns, including the tenure-based Prime Minister and other constitutional bodies like provincial Chief Ministers and Governor Positions.
The seats of the Prime Minister are sought after by more than six members of the coalition. The coalition government might fall early at any time if there is no agreement on any of these matters.
Second, the CPN-UML-led second alliance has performed admirably overall and continues to have the power to form the government.
The CPN-UML performed better than the NC in the May 2022 local body elections both individually and in comparison, and this time there are just a few seat discrepancies between them.
Since the adoption of the Constitution in 2015, the political climate in Nepal has not improved much. Nepal has had five prime ministers in the past seven years (October 2015–December 2022), and there have been two efforts to prematurely dissolve the House of Representatives (HoR), which has eroded public faith in the new political system. To effectively implement policies, the institutions needed political direction, which Nepal’s authorities utterly failed to provide.
Need votes to continue his term as the Prime minister
To secure his position as prime minister, Mr Prachanda needs 138 votes in the 275-member parliament.
Mr Prachanda stated that he is optimistic bout receiving a vote of confidence when speaking to the media on Monday. In addition to being confident that I will win a vote of confidence, I also think that the entire House will support me.
According to the agreement on power-sharing established between the UML and the Maoist Center before Mr Prachanda’s selection as the new prime minister, the UML will have its nominees chosen as the president and speaker of the House of Representatives.
According to sources cited by the newspaper news Republic, an arrangement has been reached whereby the UML will hold the speakership for the first two and a half years, and the Maoist Center candidate will hold it for the remaining two years.
The election for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker will begin following the vote of confidence.
The Speaker and Deputy Speaker must be chosen within 15 days after the first parliamentary meeting, as per the constitution.
It’s going to be important to see how the political scenario of Nepal politics will take turns.
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