Kathmandu, Aug 24: The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has issued a whip directing its Bagmati Province lawmakers to vote against, remain neutral on, or stay absent from the confidence vote to be sought by Chief Minister Kiran Thapa Magar on September 24.
The whip, issued by RPP Chief Whip Kumari Tamang, was sent to all provincial lawmakers on Sunday afternoon.
The directive comes after Uddhav Thapa, leader of the RPP parliamentary party in Bagmati, decided to join the provincial government against the party’s central decision. Three RPP lawmakers subsequently joined the Thapa-led government.
Gir Bahadur Tamang, Minister for Health and Social Development, Raju Bista, Minister for Water Supply, Energy and Irrigation, and Rajendra Prajapati, Minister for Industry, Tourism, Labour and Transport, joined the government in defiance of the party’s instructions. The party’s central disciplinary committee has sought explanations from all three lawmakers.
RPP lawmakers had also supported the formation of an UML-led provincial government without approval from the party’s central leadership.
Karki to seek confidence vote in Koshi Today
BIRATNAGAR: Koshi Province Chief Minister Hikmat Kumar Karki is seeking a confidence vote for the third time today.
Karki will seek the vote at a Provincial Assembly meeting scheduled for 2 pm. Provincial Assembly Secretary Sudarshan Khadka said all preparations have been completed.
New ministers were sworn in last Monday following a three-point agreement between the CPN UML and the Nepali Communist Party. Before that, the Nepali Congress had withdrawn its support for Karki. Congress formally registered its decision to withdraw support with the Provincial Assembly Secretariat on September 19. UML and the Nepali Communist Party had agreed on August 25 to form a coalition government in the province.
Karki was appointed chief minister on May 9, 2024, under Article 168(5) of the Constitution and secured his first confidence vote on May 12. Of 62 lawmakers present, 57 voted in his favour while five remained neutral.
He sought a second confidence vote on September 18, 2024, after the UML and then CPN Maoist Centre coalition broke down and the UML joined hands with Congress. Karki received 66 votes in favour and 15 against, with 83 lawmakers participating.
The Koshi Provincial Assembly has 92 members: 40 from UML, 29 from Congress, 17 from the Nepali Communist Party, five from RPP including the Speaker, and one from the Janata Samajbadi Party.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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