Himal Press 
CPN (Maoist Center) Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal (File Photo)
KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal failed the floor test in the House of Representatives on Friday.
In the voting on his motion of vote of confidence held on Friday, Dahal received the support of 63 lawmakers. A total of 194 lawmakers voted against the proposal.
Dahal needed 138 votes in the 275-member lower house to save his government.
This was the fifth floor test that Dahal has undergone since assuming office on December 26, 2022.
Dahal, who juggled between Nepali Congress and CPN-UML to lead the government despite being the leader of the third largest party in the House of Representatives with just 32 seats, is now out of power for the first time since the November 2022 election.
The CPN (Maoist Center) Chairperson, who was lucky in the previous four floor tests, however, failed in the fifth.
Dahal took the first trust vote after the November 2022 election on January 10, 2023, after he formed a coalition government with CPN-UML. He received the support of 268 lawmakers.
He underwent a second floor test on March 20, 2023, after he ditched UML and brought Nepali Congress on board his government. He received 172 votes. Lawmakers of Maoist Center, NC, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Janata Samajbadi Party, Nepal (JSP Nepal), CPN (Unified Socialist), Janamat Party, Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP), Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP), and Rastriya Jana Morcha (RJM), as well as three independent lawmakers, supported his motion of vote of confidence.
The Maoist Center Chairperson underwent his third floor test after he severed ties with NC and announced a new coalition with CPN-UML on March 13, 2024. He received the support of 157 lawmakers from the UML, RSP, JSP, Unified Socialist, and NUP, in addition to his own party.
Dahal sought a vote of confidence in the lower house for the fourth time on May 20 after Upendra Yadav-led Janata Samajbadi Party, Nepal (JSP Nepal) withdrew its support and left his government. He again received the support of 157 lawmakers.
Dahal, however, received only 63 votes in his fifth floor test on Friday. Lawmakers of Maoist Center, RSP, and Unified Socialist voted in favor of Dahal’s motion of vote of confidence.
