No-confidence motion to be tabled in Karnali Provincial Assembly on Saturday
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The future of the Karnali Province government has become uncertain after the Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre) remained firm in support of the no-confidence motion.
On Asar 32, 16 lawmakers from the Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre) registered a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Yam Lal Kandel. The CPN (Maoist Centre) parliamentary party meeting held on Thursday decided to vote in favor of the no-confidence motion. The Congress parliamentary party meeting also decided on Wednesday to vote in favor of the no-confidence motion.
The no-confidence motion proposes Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader Jeevan Bahadur Shahi as the new Chief Minister. CPN-UML, however, has not made any decision on the matter.
Kamal Lamsal, Associate Professor at Mid-West University, said that with the CPN (Maoist Centre)'s decision, the future of the government has become clear. “There were speculations that the CPN (Maoist Centre) might wait for a decision from the center due to rumors of cooperation between the CPN (Maoist Centre) and UML at the federal level,” he said. “Now, a new government will be formed, but whether the Chief Minister will resign or face the no-confidence motion will be decided by UML.”
Civil society leader Durga Prasad Sapkota said that with both parties’ parliamentary groups making decisions, there is now an easy majority in favor of the no-confidence motion against the Chief Minister. If the no-confidence motion passes, Chief Minister Kandel will be relieved of his post and, according to the constitution, the process of forming a new government will begin.
In the 40-member Karnali Provincial Assembly, Congress has 14, CPN (Maoist Centre) has 14, and UML has 10 lawmakers. There is one lawmaker each from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and an independent, while the CPN (Maoist Centre) has taken action against one of its lawmakers. Raj Kumar Sharma, the former Chief Minister of Karnali who was expelled by the CPN (Maoist Centre), has also signed the no-confidence motion. CPN (Maoist Centre) Chief Whip Krishna Bahadur Jisi said that the discussion and voting on the no-confidence motion in the Provincial Assembly will now determine the fate of the Karnali government.
Karnali government spokesperson and Minister for Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperatives Binod Kumar Shah said that UML has not yet made any decision regarding the government.
In Karnali, there had been a power-sharing arrangement between UML and Congress since Shrawan 2081. On Asar 31, four Congress ministers participating in the government resigned, and the next day, the no-confidence motion was registered.
Currently, the Karnali government consists of the Chief Minister and four UML ministers. UML parliamentary party leader Kandel was appointed Chief Minister on Chaitra 27, 2080. Since Asar 21, the Provincial Assembly has not convened. Speaker Nanda Gurung said that a Provincial Assembly meeting has been called for Saturday at 2 p.m. to discuss the no-confidence motion.
