Gandaki CM Gurung to seek trust vote on Thursday

Published On: June 8, 2021 06:49 PM NPT By: SANDESH SHRESTHA

Photo Courtesy: CM Gurung's Facebook

POKHARA, June 8: Chief Minister (CM) of Gandaki Province, Prithvi Subba Gurung, has announced to seek a trust vote from the Gandaki Province Assembly on June 10.

CM Gurung’s letter was registered at the province assembly secretariat on Tuesday.

Gurung had first been appointed as Gandaki CM after the left alliance comprising CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) recorded landslide victory in 2017 elections. He was, however, reappointed as the chief minister on May 12 in his capacity as the leader of the parliamentary party of the largest political party in the province assembly after the coalition partner--- Maoist Center--- withdrew its support to the Gurung-led government.

Gurung is required to test his fate as the executive head of the province through the confidence motion within 30 days of the date of appointment.

Grung had resigned from his position in a tactical way just a day before the province assembly was all set to vote on a no-confidence motion registered against him. The opposition parties including the Nepali Congress (NC), the Maoist Center, Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) and Rastriya Janamorcha (RJM) had proposed NC’s parliamentary party leader Krishna Chandra Nepali Pokharel as the new chief minister in their no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Gurung.

In the 60-member Gandaki Province assembly, Gurung requires securing at least 31 votes to win the trust and remain in power as the chief minister. While the ruling UML has 27 members, Chief Minister Gurung has secured support of Dipak Manange, an independent lawmaker and incumbent Minister for Youths and Sports.

The main opposition NC has 15 votes while Maoist has 11 members excluding the Speaker. RJM’s three and JSP’s two members can play decisive roles during Thursday’s confidence motion. RJM’s Krishna Thapa, despite his party’s whip, announced to vote for Gurung. Although his party dismissed him as a lawmaker, Thapa was reinstated by the Supreme Court’s June 6 order.