Dahal passes floor test, gets support of 172 lawmakers

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has passed a floor test with the support of  172 members of the House of Representatives during a vote held on Monday. Similarly, 89 lawmakers voted against him, while one lawmaker abstained.

A total of 262 lawmakers participated in the voting.

Dahal received backing from eleven parties in parliament, including the Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Center), Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Janata Samajbadi Party (SJP), CPN (Unified Socialist), Janamat Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party, Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP), Nepal Samajbadi Party, and Aam Janata Party.

However, the CPN-UML, Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party voted against him.

Dahal, who was elected Prime Minister on December 25 with the support of the CPN-UML and gained a vote of confidence on June 10, formed a new coalition with the Nepali Congress after refusing to support the UML candidate for the position of President.

The newly formed coalition has elected Ram Chandra Poudel of the Nepali Congress and Ramsahaya Prasad Yadav of the Janata Samajbadi Party to the posts of President and Vice President, respectively.

Now that he has secured the trust vote, Dahal can shift his focus to expanding his cabinet.