Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba Wins Vote of Confidence in Parliament

Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba received 165 votes in his favour and 84 votes against him.

File Photo: Sher Bahadur Deuba

(Photo: PTI)

Nepal's new Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Sunday, 18 July, won the vote of confidence in the country's Parliament.

House Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota read out the results of the vote, in which Deuba received 165 votes in his favour and 84 against him. While the lower house currently has 271 members, only 249 lawmakers were present for voting as some boycotted the vote and some were absent, reported IANS.

Deuba was supported by his Nepali Congress, the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist Centre), the Janata Samajbadi Party, as well as some lawmakers from the main Opposition Nepal Communist Party-UML, whose chairman is his predecessor, KP Sharma Oli.

The Nepali Congress has 61 seats while coalition partner Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) has 49 seats. The Rastriya Janamorcha, with one seat, also decided to vote for Deuba.

Meanwhile, half of the lawmakers of the Janata Samajbadi Party, which has a total of 32 members, also made a volte-face on Sunday and suddenly decided to vote for Deuba, reported IANS.

A faction of the party had earlier supported Oli while half of them remained in the Opposition.

After the Supreme Court overturned Oli's decision to dissolve the House, the party came together and decided to vote for Deuba.

According to IANS, Oli's own party, Nepal Communist Party-UML remained divided. Out of its 127 lawmakers, 22 party lawmakers voted in favour of Deuba and 10 lawmakers were absent.

Deuba was appointed Prime Minister on 13 July, after the Supreme Court overturned Oli's decision to dissolve the House of Representatives on 21 May, and reinstated the house.

The Constitution makes it mandatory that a Prime Minister appointed under Article 76(5) secures a vote of confidence within 30 days of appointment.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated Deuba for winning the vote of confidence, stating that he looks forward to working with him to enhance the partnership between the countries.

Responding to PM Modi, Deuba said that he, too, is looking forward to working closely with him.

(With inputs from IANS.)