Nepal: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to face vote of confidence on Sunday

Nepal's newly appointed Prime Minister, KP Sharma Oli, will seek a vote of confidence on July 21,one week after he assumed office.

Following his predecessor Pushpa Kamal Dahal's loss of a vote of confidence in parliament, President Ram Chandra Paudel named 72-year-old Oli, the chairman of the CPN-UML (Communist Party of Nepal—Unified Marxist Leninist), as prime minister on July 14.

On July 15, Oli took the oath of office as prime minister for the fourth time. Prime Minister Oli reportedly told the Parliament Secretariat about it, saying that an early vote of confidence would make it easier for him to work, according to CPN-UML Chief Whip Mahesh Bartaula.

After Pushpa Kamal Dahal lost a motion of trust, Nepal President Ram Chandra Paudel called on political parties to declare their support for the prime minister on July 12 of this month.

In accordance with Constitutional Article 76(2), the President had requested the claim of stake.

Oli announced his candidacy for prime minister on the same day that he and President Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress party signed a request asking the president to name the leader of the UML as the nation's new leader on Friday night.

On Friday, Oli presented the signatures of 165 members in the house, claiming majority support for the prime ministership, with the support of the Nepali Congress and other smaller parties. According to the Nepalese Constitution, in order to assume office, the Prime Minister must receive the backing of the majority of the 275 members of the House of Representatives. In order to demonstrate support, the Prime Minister is also required to hold a vote of confidence within 30 days of taking office.

Shortly after the Constitution was enacted in 2015, Oli took office as prime minister for the first time in October of that year and held the position until August of that same year. Following the 2017 general election, Oli established a cabinet and stayed in office from February 2018 until May 2021. Oli was successful in instilling nationalist sentiment among those who were supporting China.

Oli staked a claim as the legislative leader of the largest party in parliament, and from May 2021 to July 2021, he was once more chosen Prime Minister via the constitutional provision of 76(3). Oli twice dissolved the parliament while he was in office, but the Supreme Court overruled him with a mandamus restraining it.