Kathmandu: The first meeting of the reinstated House of Representatives is scheduled to begin at 4 pm on Sunday. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is also planning to take his floor test in the HoR meeting.
The Supreme Court reinstated the House for the second time on July 12. The Court had issued a mandamus order to appoint Sher Bahadur Deuba as prime minister and also had ordered an HoR meeting by 5 pm today. As per the order, President Bidya Devi Bhandari, on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, called the meeting for today.
Article 76 (4) of the Constitution of Nepal has the provision that the PM appointed as per Article 76 (5) must take a vote of confidence within 30 days of the appointment.
Deuba, during his floor test, needs the support of the Madhav Nepal faction of the CPN-UML. As of now, Deuba has support of 128 lawmakers including 61 MPs from Nepali Congress, 48 from CPN Maoist Center, 17 from Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal, one from Rastriya Janamorcha and an independent lawmaker. This makes for 128 MPs’ support, 8 less than the required 136 to win the vote of confidence.
The support of the Madhav Nepal faction, which has 23 lawmakers, can provide a clear majority to Deuba.
President Bhandari had dissolved the House for the second time on May 22 on the recommendation of the erstwhile prime minister KP Sharma Oli. However, the apex court termed the dissolution unconstitutional and reinstated the House on July 12.
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