Nepali PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal wins trust vote for 4th time

Kathmandu: Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Monday won a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives for the fourth time after he reassumed the premiership in December 2022.

Dahal took the vote of trust amid protests from the opposition Nepali Congress, which has been demanding a probe committee against Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane for his alleged involvement in the embezzlement of deposits in cooperatives, Xinhua news agency reported.

"As many as 158 lawmakers took part in the vote of confidence, of which 157 voted for the vote of confidence, which is a majority of the total existing lawmakers in the house," announced Dev Raj Ghimire, speaker of the lower house.

The support of 138 lawmakers is enough to win the vote of trust in the 275-member chamber. The vote within 30 days was necessary after Rastriya Janata Party Nepal pulled out of the coalition government last week.

Nepal's general election in November 2022 produced no majority party in the lower house and Dahal took office for the third time as the head of a coalition government in December that year, and he had different coalition partners ever since.