TIKAPUR: The Sudurpaschim Province Assembly called to discuss Chief Minister Rajendrasingh Rawal’s vote of confidence proposal has been postponed at eleventh hour on Wednesday.

According to sources, Chief Minister got the assembly postponed after the Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP) refused to vote for the government today.

However, Nepali Congress (NC), the main opposition party in the assembly, protested the postponement of the province assembly meeting.

NC objected the postponement as Speaker Bhim Bahadur Bhandari took the decision without consulting the main opposition party.

The meeting was adjourned and called for Thursday at 1 o’clock after the NUP clarified that it would not give a vote of confidence.

Rawal, the leader of the CPN-UML parliamentary party in the Provincial Assembly, was appointed as the Chief Minister of the Sudurpaschim in accordance with Article 168 (2) of the Constitution on January 11.

Now he will take a vote of confidence in the meeting to be held on Thursday. He was appointed as the He was elected Chief Minister with the support of CPN (Maoist Center), NUP and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) along with his party UML.

According to the constitutional provision, the vote of confidence must be taken within 30 days of being appointed as the chief minister; hence Rawal must take the vote of confidence on Thursday.

No party has a single majority in the 53-member province assembly. The Chief Minister needs 27 votes to prove his majority.

NUP, which is seen as a decisive force in the power coalition, is on the stand of not giving a vote of confidence. The party has been demanding the release of the prisoners of the Tikapur incident.

In the Provincial Assembly, there are 10 members of the ruling UML, 10 members of the Maoist Center, 7 members of NUP and one member of the RPP. The opposition party NC has 19 members, and CPN (Unified Socialist) has 4 members. There is one independent candidate in the assembly.