Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal won a vote of confidence in parliament after winning support from the moderate opposition Nepal Congress party and other small groups, who are now expected to join. his new cabinet.
Allies in his former coalition withdrew from the government last month after choosing an opposition candidate to be the next president. PM faces vote of confidence after an ally withdraws support
Dahal – a former commander-in-chief of the Maoist insurgency who still goes by the nickname Prachanda, which means “fierce” – is expected to announce a coalition this week with the Congress party. Nepal and 9 other subgroups, including his own. Maoist Center Party.
He won 172 votes in favor on Monday and 89 votes against in the 275-seat parliament, President Devraj Ghimire said. “I promise to work hard for social justice, good governance and prosperity, turning the trust you have given into energy,” Dahal wrote on Twitter after the results.
The 68-year-old became prime minister for the third time in December, leading a coalition with the liberal United Marxist-Leninist party (UML) and the royalists.
The allies left amid differences over his support of Ram Chandra Paudel, a candidate of the Nepali Congress party, for president.
Paudel was elected on 9 March as the third president of the republic of 30 million people located between China and India.
Nepal has had 11 governments since abolishing the 239-year-old monarchy in 2008 and becoming a republic. The president is a largely ceremonial head of state.
Analysts say Dahal could face challenges in forming his new cabinet. “It can be difficult for the prime minister to allocate ministerial positions and satisfy ambitious allies,” Bipin Adhikari, a constitutional expert, told Reuters news agency.
Dahal is already in the middle of another crisis. The Supreme Court is hearing a petition demanding his arrest and an investigation into his leadership during a decade-long civil war that killed thousands of people before it ended in 2006.
