Kathmandu: Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli garnered a two-thirds majority in the vote of confidence motion tabled in parliament on Sunday.
Oli received 188 votes in the 275-member parliament, with 74 votes in opposition and one abstinent, the house Speaker announced. On Sunday, a total of 263 lawmakers were present at the meeting. The Prime Minister required at least 138 votes to win the trust motion.
"The number of honourable members of parliament present in today's vote division stands at 263. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, as per Article 76 (4) of the Constitution, presented the trust motion in the House of Representatives, the votes in favour stand at 188 votes, against the motion 74 and one abstinent," House Speaker Devraj Ghimire announced.
"The trust motion proposed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli as per the Constitution of Nepal, Article 76(4), claims the confidence of the House of Representatives, which has 188 votes in support and that number is the majority on the basis of the number of members present in the meeting. I hereby announce that the proposal of trust motion filed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has been endorsed with majority," the house speaker added.
Oli was appointed prime minister as per Article 76(2) of the constitution, and the prime minister thus appointed must take a vote of confidence within 30 days. Oli was appointed as the prime minister by President Ramchandra Paudel on July 15 based on the signatures collected from 166 lawmakers.
Earlier while tabling the motion, Oli made public the content of the seven-point agreement reached between the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML earlier this month. Prime Minister Oli said that the agreement between the two major parties was part of the two largest parties' efforts to address the country's pressing issues.
"Constitution is a document that can be amended. It indeed is a dynamic vibrant document. It can be and would be amended on the basis of the demand of the public. It is not subjected to be amended on the basis of interest, it rather moves according to the need of the time. Constitution amendment is not something that is done when someone wants to. We also don't move forward with it being driven by insistence or prejudice, we are not rigid about the provisions of the constitution rather it would be free of insistence but driven by the need of the people, country, need of time and development. It would be only updated on the basis of these needs," Oli said.
Nepali President Ram Chandra Paudel earlier on July 12 had called the political parties in Nepali parliament to stake a claim for the Prime Minister as Pushpa Kamal Dahal lost a confidence motion. The President had called for the claim of stake as per the Article 76 (2) of the constitution.
On the same day, Oli had stacked claim over the post in support of Nepali Congress. Oli and Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba jointly signed an application for the President to appoint the UML chief the new prime minister on Friday evening right after the results of vote of confidence.
Oli, with the backing of the Nepali Congress and smaller parties the same day had submitted signatures of 165 lawmakers claiming majority support in the parliament for the Prime Minister Ship.
The Constitution of Nepal mandates a Prime Minister to cross a majority of 138 in the 275 strong House of Representatives to take over as the Prime Minister. Also, the Prime Minister is also mandated to take the vote of confidence within 30 days of appointment to prove support.
Oli became the Prime Minister for the first time in October 2015 soon after the promulgation of the constitution that year and remained in power until August 2016.
Right after the general election in 2017, Oli, who was able to usher nationalist sentiment amongst the people siding with China formed a government and remained in power from February 2018 to May 2021.
Oli again was appointed as Prime Minister under the constitutional provision of 76 (3) from May 2021 to July 2021 after staking claim as the parliamentary leader of the largest party in parliament. While in power for about three years, Oli had dissolved the parliament twice, which was reinstated by the Supreme Court issuing a mandamus.
As per the July 2 deal between Congress chief Deuba and UML chairman, Oli, the two parties will lead the government on a rotational basis until the next general elections in 2027. (ANI)
