Madhesh Chief Minister Sonal resigns before his floor test

KATHMANDU: Chief Minister of Madhesh Province, Jitendra Sonal, has resigned from his post.

Sonal stepped down after it became evident that he would not be able to secure a vote of confidence in the Madhesh Province Assembly

Announcing his resignation while addressing the province assembly meeting on Saturday for a vote of confidence, Sonal said he was relinquishing his position.

Sonal, a provincial lawmaker from the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP) Nepal, had been appointed Chief Minister on October 15 with the support of five parties — Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Nepal, Janamat Party, Maoist Centre, CPN (Unified Socialist) and his party LSP Nepal

Sonal had written to the Province Assembly Secretariat on Thursday to convene a session on Saturday for the vote of confidence.

However, Sonal faced a major setback after lawmakers from the very parties that had supported his appointment rebelled. During Saturday’s meeting, Maoist Center lawmakers Rahbar Ansari and Mala Karn declared that they would not give him a vote of confidence, claiming that the coalition parties had already lost their legitimacy.

Although the Janamat Party had officially supported Sonal, former Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh and Tribhuwan Sah were absent from the assembly. Both have joined the newly formed Janaswaraj Party, a splinter group from Janamat.

With at least four lawmakers refusing to back him, Sonal was left short of the majority required to win the vote.

A support of 54 members is needed to form government in the 107-member Madhesh Province Assembly.