HETAUDA: The Nepali Congress (NC) Bagmati Province Parliamentary Party is scheduled to hold a meeting today to decide whether Chief Minister Indra Bahadur Baniya should seek a vote of confidence or resign.
The meeting will determine the next course of action for the Baniya-led provincial government, which has been reduced to a minority following the withdrawal of support by the CPN-UML.
Finance Minister Prabhat Tamang, who is also spokesperson for the provincial government, said a decision on whether the chief minister should seek a vote of confidence or step down would be taken at today’s parliamentary party meeting.
“The parliamentary party meeting will decide today whether the chief minister will resign or seek a vote of confidence,” Tamang said.
The CPN-UML withdrew its support from the provincial government on July 6, leaving the Baniya-led government without a majority in the Provincial Assembly.
Article 188 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal requires a chief minister to seek a vote of confidence from the Provincial Assembly within 30 days if a political party supporting the provincial government withdraws its backing.
Under Clauses (1) and (2) of the same article, the Chief Minister will lose office if the confidence motion fails to secure a majority of the total members of the Provincial Assembly present at the time of voting.
In such a situation, Article 168 (2) of the Constitution provides for the Provincial Chief to appoint as chief minister a member of the Provincial Assembly who can demonstrate the support of two or more political parties represented in the assembly.
The Bagmati Provincial Assembly originally had 110 members. However, six lawmakers resigned after becoming candidates for the House of Representatives, reducing the current strength to 104. A total of 53 votes are therefore required for a majority in the 104-member assembly.
The Nepali Congress is the largest party in the Provincial Assembly with 36 lawmakers. The CPN-UML has 25 members, including the Deputy Speaker, while the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) has 26. The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has 12 members, the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party has three, and the Hamro Nepali Party has two.
Comment