CPN (UML) Koshi Province Parliamentary Party Issues Whip for Chief Minister's Vote of Confidence

Biratnagar. The CPN (UML) Koshi Province Parliamentary Party has decided to issue a whip to be present in the Provincial Assembly meeting on Monday and vote in favor of the Chief Minister. The decision was made at a party meeting held at the Provincial Assembly Secretariat this morning, according to party whip Ramesh Kumar Basnet. Chief Minister Hikmat Kumar Karki is taking a vote of confidence for the third time today. Karki will seek a vote of confidence in the Provincial Assembly meeting scheduled for 2 PM today. As per the three-point agreement between CPN (UML) and CPN, new ministers were sworn in last Monday. Prior to that, the Nepali Congress had withdrawn its support to the Chief Minister. The letter stating that the Congress had withdrawn its support to Chief Minister Karki on August 3rd has already been registered at the Parliament Secretariat. An agreement was reached between CPN (UML) and CPN on July 25th to form an alliance in the provincial government. After being appointed Chief Minister on May 10, 2024, as per Article 168(5) of the Constitution, Chief Minister Karki took a vote of confidence for the first time on May 14, 2024. At that time, out of 62 Provincial Assembly members present, 57 voted in favor of Karki, while 5 remained neutral. He was supported by 40 members from CPN (UML) including the Deputy Speaker, 13 from the then Maoist, 3 from Unified Socialist, and 1 from JSP Nepal. After the alliance between CPN (UML) and the then Maoist broke and an alliance was formed with the Congress, Chief Minister Karki took a vote of confidence for the second time on September 19, 2024. At that time, 66 votes were cast in favor of the vote of confidence proposed by Karki, and 15 against. 83 MPs participated in the voting. The Koshi Provincial Assembly has 92 members. Among them, CPN (UML) has 40 and Congress has 29 members. Similarly, the Nepali Communist Party, formed by the merger of Maoist Center and CPN (Unified Socialist), has 17 members, RPP has 5 including the Speaker, and JSP has 1 MP.