HETAUDA: Bagmati Province Chief Minister Kiran Thapa Magar is set to seek a vote of confidence in the provincial assembly on Tuesday, but disputes within the ruling alliance have once again cast uncertainty over the process.
The provincial assembly meeting, which could not take place on Monday due to disagreements among the ruling parties, has been scheduled for 4 pm on Tuesday.
Although seeking a vote of confidence is a constitutional requirement, the process has become complicated due to dissatisfaction within the ruling coalition, an internal dispute in the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), and a petition challenging Chief Minister Thapa’s appointment pending before the court.
Congress issues whip
The Nepali Congress Bagmati parliamentary party has instructed its provincial lawmakers not to participate in the process of taking a vote of confidence from Chief Minister Thapa.
Congress Chief Whip Pukar Maharjan directed lawmakers not to participate in the process scheduled for 4 pm on Tuesday.
Congress argues that seeking a vote of confidence while a case challenging Thapa’s appointment is pending before the Hetauda bench of the Patan High Court goes against constitutional provisions.
The party has also urged Deputy Speaker Apsara Chapagain to maintain neutrality.
The court has summoned both sides for discussions on August 26, while the provincial government is attempting to move ahead with the confidence vote a day earlier.
Dispute intensifies within RPP
The internal dispute within the RPP over whether to support Chief Minister Thapa has also reached a critical point.
RPP Chair Rajendra Lingden has initiated disciplinary action against four provincial lawmakers, Raju Bista, Rajendra Prajapati, Gir Bahadur Tamang and Uddhav Thapa, for allegedly joining the Bagmati government against the party’s direction.
However, RPP Bagmati Province Chair Bikram Thapa has urged the Speaker not to recognise the letter submitted to the provincial assembly secretariat seeking to remove the four lawmakers.
He has argued that disciplinary action under the party statute falls under the authority of the central working committee. He has also questioned how the decision was made when no meeting of the central working committee has been held since August 20.
RPP senior leader Kamal Thapa has also expressed surprise over the decision, questioning the authenticity of the letter.
The RPP has 12 lawmakers in the Bagmati provincial assembly, making their support, absence or opposition potentially crucial to the government’s survival.
NCP dissent eases after Prachanda meeting
Meanwhile, dissatisfaction within the ruling Nepali Communist Party (NCP) appears to have eased somewhat following a meeting with party coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ in Kathmandu.
NCP provincial lawmakers had expressed dissatisfaction over the allocation of ministries, selection of ministers, the claim for the post of Speaker and power-sharing arrangements.
Lawmakers including Yubaraj Chaulagain, Krishna Khanal, Rajendraman Shrestha, Om Kumari Shrestha, Urmila Lama, Ruku Chaulagain, Ganga Narayan Shrestha and Laxman Lamsal had been dissatisfied with the party’s handling of government formation and power sharing.
Following their meeting with Prachanda, the lawmakers reportedly became positive about supporting Chief Minister Thapa’s vote of confidence and headed towards Hetauda.
The NCP Bagmati parliamentary party had already issued a whip directing its lawmakers to vote in favour of Thapa.
53 votes needed
The 104-member Bagmati Provincial Assembly requires the support of at least 53 lawmakers for the government to secure a vote of confidence.
Chief Minister Thapa was appointed with the support of the UML, NCP and RPP. The UML has 25 lawmakers and the NCP has 26, giving the ruling alliance 51 seats.
The RPP’s 12 lawmakers therefore hold significant importance in the vote.
With Congress instructing its lawmakers to boycott the process, the presence and voting behaviour of ruling coalition lawmakers could become more important than the opposition’s numerical strength.
The provincial assembly meeting was postponed repeatedly on Monday amid dissatisfaction among some NCP lawmakers and the dispute within the RPP. After the meeting could not take place, it was rescheduled for Tuesday.
Court case adds uncertainty
A writ petition challenging Chief Minister Thapa Magar’s appointment has been filed at the Hetauda bench of the Patan High Court.
The court has issued a show-cause order to the defendants and summoned both sides for discussion.
Congress has cited the pending case as a reason why the provincial assembly should not proceed with the vote of confidence.
The ruling side, however, maintains that the chief minister must seek a vote of confidence in accordance with the constitutional process.
The political future of Chief Minister Thapa’s government now hinges on several factors, including the number of lawmakers present at the provincial assembly meeting, the position taken by RPP lawmakers and the impact of Congress’s boycott whip.
Although the NCP’s internal dissent appears to have eased for now, the RPP dispute remains unresolved, while the court case challenging Thapa’s appointment is still pending.
Comment