PM Prachanda needs to secure vote of confidence by 27 March

Ramesh Sapkota

Kathmandu, 27 February (2023) - With the withdrawal of CPN-UML from the government, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" needs to secure vote of confidence by 27 March.

UML secretariat meeting on Monday decided to pull out of the government and withdraw party's support as well.

Prachanda was elected PM with support from 169 members of parliament on 25 December last year. He received a landslide 268 votes of confidence on 10 January.

Prachanda does not have the luxury of arguing that he enjoys majority support even if UML quit the government, constitutional law expert Bhimarjun Acharya said.

"Article 100(2) of the constitution stipulates thar the PM has to take vote of confidence within 30 days after a supporting party withdraws its backing," Acharya said. "The PM can't argue that he doesn't need to take vote of confidence as he already has majority support. It can't be ignored because this is a constitutional provision."

Rasriya Parajatantra Party too has withdrawn its support to the government on 25 February.

UML has 79 while RPP has 14 members of parliament. That means PM Prachanda still has a majority support of 175 members of parliament.