Nepal PM 'Prachanda' to seek third vote of confidence by March 13

Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' is seeking to hold his third vote of confidence in Parliament by March 13, days after he forged a new alliance with the CPN-UML, a media report said on Saturday.

The third round of vote of confidence comes after Prachanda, a former guerilla leader, dumped the Nepali Congress and forged a new alliance with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) the second-biggest party led by former premier KP Sharma Oli on Monday.

During a parliamentary party meeting held on Saturday, the prime minister discussed the matter with his Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), indicating his readiness to seek a vote of confidence by March 13, Nepalese news portal, khabarhub.com reported.

The CPN (Maoist Centre) also issued a whip to its lawmakers, instructing them not to leave the Kathmandu Valley in the days leading up to the election of the National Assembly Chairman and the anticipated date for Prachanda's floor test, the report said.

The lower House of Parliament - House of Representatives - has been summoned for a session on March 13.

The party directed its lawmakers that they should be present in Parliament when the prime minister seeks a vote of confidence. According to Nepalese media, the new coalition has enough seats in the 275-member Parliament.

The election for the post of the Chairman of the upper House of Parliament has been scheduled for March 12, according to The Kathmandu Post newspaper.

Prachanda became the prime minister for the third term with the support of the Nepali Congress on December 25, 2022. His party is the third-largest group in the House of Representatives.

After breaking the alliance with the Nepali Congress the largest party in the House of Representatives Prachanda joined hands with Oli, who was regarded as Prachanda's top critic.

Last year, Prachanda faced a floor test after the CPN-UML withdrew its support to the Prachanda-led government following a rift over backing the main opposition party's candidate for the presidential poll.

The CPN-UML secured 78 seats, followed by the Maoist Centre, which got 32 seats.

The RSP, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janata Samajwadi Party and CPN-Unified Socialist won 20, 14, 12 and 10 seats respectively.

In the 2017 election, Prachanda and Oli merged their parties and secured a comfortable majority. Oli became the prime minister, but their partnership ended halfway following differences between them.