Nepal’s Oli govt loses majority after Maoist party withdraws support

Kathmandu: Nepal’s embattled Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli-led government on Wednesday lost majority support in the House of Representatives after the CPN (Maoist Center) led by Pushpakamal Dahal ”Prachanda” officially withdrew support to it.

The party submitted a letter to this effect to the Parliament Secretariat, informing about its decision to withdraw support to the government, according to a senior leader of the party, Ganesh Shah.

Chief Whip of the Maoist Center Dev Gurung handed over the letter to officials at the Parliament Secretariat, he said.

After handing over the letter Gurung told the media persons that the party decided to withdraw support to the Oli government as the government had breached the Constitution and the government’s recent activities have posed threat to democratic procedures and national sovereignty.

After the withdrawal of support, the Oli government has lost its majority in the House of Representatives.

The decision of the Maoist party to withdraw support to the government comes two days after Oli announced that he will seek a vote of confidence in Parliament on May 10.

The Maoist Center has a total of 49 lawmakers in the lower house.

Since the ruling CPN-UML has a total of 121 lawmakers, Prime Minister Oli is short of 15 lawmakers to save his government in the 275-member House.