Thapa secures confidence vote amid controversy over Speaker’s role

ITAHARI: Koshi Province Chief Minister Uddhab Thapa managed to secure a vote of confidence in a contentious manner on Monday afternoon.

Nepali Congress assembly member Israil Mansuri, who presided over the session in the absence of the Deputy Speaker who flew to Kathmandu on Monday morning for medical treatment, voted in favor of Thapa and later announced that Thapa had garnered the support of 47 assembly members, while 30 assembly members voted against him.

Mansuri’s decision to vote in favor of Thapa has raised concerns, as the Supreme Court had previously emphasized that the Speaker must maintain neutrality and refrain from casting their vote in support of any particular party.

Political parties require the support of 47 members to form government in the 93-member provincial assembly.

Thapa secured votes from 29 assembly members of the Nepali Congress, including the Speaker, 12 members from the CPN (Maoist Center), four members from the CPN (Unified Socialist), and one member from the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP). On the other hand, 30 assembly members voted against him, while the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) chose to boycott the voting process.

A total of 77 assembly members participated in the voting process.

Deputy Speaker Sirjana Danuwar deviated from parliamentary norms by absenting herself from the province assembly session that she had convened. However, the ruling coalition went a step further by allowing assembly member Mansuri, who was temporarily chairing the session, to cast his vote.

Earlier, the ruling coalition had induced Speaker Babu Ram Gautam to endorse Thapa’s claim to form a government. However, the entire process was annulled after Supreme Court’s ruling that the Speaker must maintain impartiality. Gautam then tendered his resignation and threw his support behind Thapa’s bid to form a government as an assembly member.