Kathmandu, July 6: The Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP) has officially withdrawn its support from the KP Oli led government, further narrowing the ruling coalition. Party Chairperson Ranjita Shrestha submitted a letter to Speaker Devraj Ghimire on Sunday, formally announcing the withdrawal of the party’s vote of confidence.
Shrestha informed that she had also scheduled a meeting with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
State Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Arun Chaudhary, representing the party in the federal government, has already resigned. Similarly, the party has pulled out from the Sudurpaschim provincial government as well.
Initially, the Nagarik Unmukti Party had been part of the federal government with one state minister and was also involved in the Sudurpaschim, Lumbini, and Madhesh provincial governments.
This decision now compels not only changes at the provincial levels but also creates a challenge for the federal government, which must now seek a vote of confidence.
According to Article 100(2) of Nepal’s Constitution, “If the party represented by the Prime Minister is divided or a party supporting the government withdraws its support, the Prime Minister must seek a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives within 30 days.” A similar provision is included in Article 188(2) concerning provincial governments.
This development adds political pressure on the ruling coalition and may reshape the balance of power in both federal and provincial governments.
In other development, the Upendra Yadav-led Janata Samajbadi Party also declared to withdraw it’s support from the KP Oli led government.
However, the government is safe in the House as two major parties – the coalition of Nepali Congress and CPN UML – have the clear majority seats. Out of 275 seats in the House, it needs at least 138 seats for the majority. But current coalition has more than 170 seats. #nepal #NUP #kpoli #coalition
