The House of Representatives (HoR) became without opposition after the Nepali Congress (NC) repeated its 28-year-old history by giving a vote of confidence to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Tuesday.
The NC had given the vote of confidence to then CPN (UML) Chairman and Prime Minister Man Mohan Adhikari in 2051 BS.
As many as 198 lawmakers (two-thirds) had supported then Prime Minister Adhikari while incumbent Prime Minister Prachanda received support from 268 lawmakers this time.
In 2051 BS, Girija Prasad Koirala was the president of the Nepali Congress. This time, Sher Bahadur Deuba is the NC President who extended support to Prachanda.
A parliamentary party (PP) meeting of the NC held at Lhotse Hall this afternoon decided to give the vote of confidence to the Prachanda-led government.
Of the 275 lawmakers, 268 voted in favor of Prime Minister Prachanda while two lawmakers -- Chitra Bahadur KC from Rastriya Janamorcha and Prem Suwal from Nepal Workers and Peasants Party – voted against the motion.
Senior lawmaker Pashupati Shumsher Rana did not cast his vote while Tek Bahadur Gurung is suspended on the ground of criminal charges.
Three lawmakers Manorama Sherchan, Kishor Singh Rathore and Ambika Basnet abstained from voting.
Coincidently, both the prime ministers are from the communist parties when the NC gave confidence vote twice in the period of 28 years.
In 2051 BS, UML Chairman Adhikari was the prime minister of a minority government while CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal is the prime minister this time.
The NC, that secured two thirds majority in the general elections of 2048 BS, dissolved the parliament three years after its formation due to the internal conflict and went for a mid-term poll.
In the mid-term elections, UML became the largest party with 88 seats followed by NC with 83 seats.
Mr. Prachanda was appointed as the prime minister for the third time with the backing of 169 lawmakers from seven political parties on December 25.
The NC won 89 seats in the November 20 elections. There are 165 directly elected lawmakers and 110 from the proportional representation in the 275-member House of Representatives.
A total of 272 lawmakers from 12 political parties and three independent lawmakers were elected in the general elections held on November 20.
However, only seven parties have earned national party status. The Rastriya Swatantra Party which was established in the run-up to the elections secured 20 seats to become the fourth largest party.
