Chief Minister (CM) of Koshi province Hikmat Karki has won the vote of confidence from the provincial assembly for the second time in four months.
CM Karki had tabled a motion for vote of confidence during the provincial assembly meeting held on Wednesday.
Speaker Ambar Bahadur Bista announced that 66 lawmakers voted for the motion and 15 voted against it, while two lawmakers did not vote.
Eighty-three lawmakers were present during Wednesday’s meeting. Forty-seven votes are required to constitute a majority in the 93-strong Koshi Provincial Assembly.
Lawmakers from the ruling CPN-UML and Nepali Congress voted in favor of the motion, while opposition parties CPN (Maoist Center) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party voted against it.
Lawmakers from CPN (Unified Socialist) did not vote while Janata Samajwadi Party’s only lawmaker Nirmala Limbu was absent. Limbu had joined the Ashok Rai-led JSP formed after splitting from JSP Nepal.
The 93-member Koshi Provincial Assembly has 40 lawmakers from the ruling UML and 29 from NC. Among the opposition parties, Maoist Center has 13 lawmakers, Rastriya Prajatantra Party has 6, CPN (Unified Socialist) has 4, and Janata Samajwadi Party has 1.
CM Karki was required to take a vote of confidence for the second time in four months after Maoist Center withdrew support to his government on August 30.
Karki had taken his first floor test on May 13, four days after being appointed chief minister with the Maoists’ support according to Article 168 (5) of the Constitution.
After UML and NC formed a coalition government at the center, Maoist Center quit the Koshi provincial government on July 26. It also withdrew support to the government on August 30.
