Nepal PM wins confidence vote after coalition realignment
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Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal won a parliamentary vote of confidence on Wednesday, a week after he formed his third coalition in just over a year to head a government that is dominated by liberal communists.
A former guerilla leader, the 69-year-old belongs to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), the third-largest party in the House of Representatives.
Dahal, a former Maoist guerrilla leader in the Himalayan nation between China and India, formed a coalition cabinet last year, including the Nepali Congress party and other smaller groups.
This month, he changed allies speaking of his lack of autonomy. The new cabinet is primarily composed of the liberal Nepal Communist Party (UML) and incorporates various other minor factions.
"I was let down several times ... and was forced to form a new coalition cabinet, which is just a regular political process," Dahal said in parliament on Wednesday, referring to the Nepali Congress, which is now the main opposition party.
After the break last week, the Nepali Congress stated that the prime minister had betrayed them by removing them from the cabinet without prior notice.
After the 2022 elections, he had previously led a coalition with the UML for a brief period. Parliament Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire announced that Dahal secured 157 votes in favor, surpassing the required 138 in the 275-member parliament, with 110 lawmakers voting against him.
According to Nepal's constitution, the Prime Minister is required to seek a vote of confidence when an ally withdraws support from the ruling coalition.