Nepal: Karnali CM faces no-confidence motion for party's feeble presence in parliament

As many as 18 Provincial Assembly lawmakers of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) have registered a no-confidence against Karnali Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi. The legislators have held Shahi, a parliamentary party leader for NCP, for the dwindling presence of the ruling party in the parliament. 

"Due to this reason, the presence of the party, as well as government in public or ground level, is not seen effectively. Therefore, it is requested to call for a meeting and pave the way," the no-confidence proposal states.

Out of the 18 signatories of the no-confidence proposal, 15 belong to former CPN-UML (Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist) and three to former CPN (Maoist Center). With a total of 40 lawmakers in Karnali Province Assembly, the Constitution of Nepal authorises to dismiss a chief minister through a majority a vote. 

The lawmakers have filed the motion as per Rule 24 (1) of the Parliamentary Party Statute 2075 BS and Article 188 (3) provides for the removal of the chief minister. Chief whip of NCP from Karnali Province, Gulabjung Shah, told ANI that they will call the meeting within 15 days as per the Parliamentary Party Statute to discuss on the matter. 

“Right now discussion and coordination with senior leaders present in parliament and center is going on," said Shah.

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Intra-party disputes

The current political crisis comes around a month after NCP resolved the differences between Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his opponent Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda”. The two leaders agreed to a power-sharing deal to end the dispute following a 13-member powerful Standing Committee meeting held at the Prime Minister's official residence.

Prachanda agreed to serve as executive chairman of the party with full power and handle the party's affairs while Oli agreed to focus on the government affairs. Oli was also facing opposition from within the party for his style of functioning and anti-India statements. The leaders agreed to resolve the border issue between Nepal and India through political and diplomatic means.

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(With ANI inputs)