Nepal PM Prachanda Wins Vote Of Confidence In Parliament

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ on Monday won a vote of confidence in Parliament, the fourth within 18 months of taking office, amidst sloganeering by the main Opposition Nepali CongressCongressCongress that abstained from the voting.

Prachanda, 69, a former guerilla leader from the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) — the third largest party in the House of Representatives (HoR) — received 157 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives.

In total, 158 lawmakers took part in the voting. The main Opposition Nepali Congress boycotted the voting process and chanted slogans against Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, accused of misappropriation of cooperative funds, leading to the delay in the session. One HoR member remained neutral. Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire announced that Prachanda had won the floor test as he got a majority in the Parliament.