Kathmandu (Nepal): Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda, 69), the Prime Minister of Nepal, secured a vote of confidence in parliament on Wednesday. This comes a week after he established his third coalition government in 14 months, mostly of liberal communists.
The cabinet, led by Prachanda, is predominantly made up of the liberal Nepal Communist Party (UML) and several smaller factions. Prachanda had previously led a brief coalition with the UML following the 2022 elections.
Earlier this month, Prachanda switched alliances, citing a lack of autonomy. Last year, Prachanda, a former Maoist guerrilla leader from Nepal, formed a coalition cabinet that included the Nepali Congress party and other smaller groups.
In the parliament of 275 members, Prachanda received 157 votes, surpassing the required 138 votes to win the house’s confidence. However, 110 lawmakers voted against him. Prachanda, now serving his third term as prime minister but never completed a full five-year term.
Nepal has seen 13 different governments after abolishing its 239-year-old monarchy to become a republic in 2008. The Nepali Congress, now the main opposition party, accused Prime Minister Prachanda of betrayal for dumping it from the cabinet last week.
Prachanda, who led a decade-long insurgency from 1996 causing 17,000 deaths, shifted to mainstream politics following a 2006 peace deal overseen by the United Nations.
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