The alliance of opposition parties in Lumbini Provincial Assembly has filed a no-confidence motion against the government today. This is the third time that such a motion has been registered against the government.
A no-confidence motion has been filed against Chief Minister Shankar Pokharel at the Provincial Assembly Secretariat, said Chief Whip of the Nepali Congress, Fakruddin Khan. He said that the opposition alliance had filed a no-confidence motion against the government in the state assembly secretariat and submitted a petition to the state chief to convene a special session of the Provincial Assembly.
"We have filed a no-confidence motion against the chief minister in the parliamentary secretariat with the signatures of 34 lawmakers and we want to put an end to the question of legitimacy of the state government," Khan said. Earlier on Monday, the opposition alliance had submitted a petition to Province Chief Amik Sherchan to call for a proposal to form a majority government as per Article 168 (2) of the Constitution. The no-confidence motion has been signed by 34 members of the state assembly from Nepali Congress, Maoist Center, Janata Samajwadi Party and Rastriya Janamorcha.
Earlier, the opposition coalition had filed a no-confidence motion against the government on April 19 and May 9.
The 87-member state assembly currently has 80 members. After the split of the CPN, two state assembly members were relieved of their posts after the CPN (Maoist Centre) took action against them for joining the UML. Two MPs Dirghanarayan Pandey and Amar Dangi have resigned. The Janata Samajwadi Party has sacked three of its MPs for the second time for participating in the government against the party's decision. However, their case is sub judice in the Supreme Court.
The no-confidence motion against the Chief Minister has been signed by 16 members of the Nepali Congress, 14 members of the Maoist Center, three members of the JSP and one member of the Rastriya Janamorcha. In the opposition alliance, there are 19 members of the Nepali Congress, 18 members of the Maoist Centre, including Speaker Purna Bahadur Gharti, three members of the JSP and one member of the Janamorcha. On the other hand, the CPN-UML has 39 state assembly members with the support of the government.
Meanwhile, Spokesperson of the government, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, Baijanath Chaudhary, said that the case of the three state assembly members currently in the government was under consideration in the court and hence decision should not be taken in hurry before the court gives its verdict.
READ ALSO:
