Makwanpur, Aug 12: Former Chief Minister of Bagmati Province, Bahadur Singh Lama, has said that under the current circumstances, it is not possible to provide a vote of confidence to Chief Minister Indra Bahadur Baniya. He stated that his faction has not been able to reach a decision on the vote of confidence as there has been no immediate agreement on their demands.

Lama said discussions with his 14 lawmakers are ongoing in Kathmandu, and a conclusion on whether to grant a vote of confidence is yet to be reached. The talks are continuing and will take some more time, he added. According to him, depending on the outcome of the discussions, they will decide whether to give a vote of confidence to the Chief Minister or pursue another option.

“We have not reached a conclusion. Our discussions are still ongoing. Some honorable members have felt insulted, and they have not seen a situation where they could immediately give a vote of confidence. That is the current reality,” he said.

According to lawmaker Tirtha Lama, discussions are taking place in Kathmandu regarding the government and party directives. Since all lawmakers are still expressing their views, it will take some more time for a conclusion. The former Chief Minister Lama’s faction has been demanding that three of their ministers be appointed in the government and sworn in.

The Lama faction has also drawn the attention of party president Sher Bahadur Deuba to this demand. Although they have received assurances from Deuba that the demand will be addressed, they remain in Kathmandu for further discussions.

Chief Minister Indra Bahadur Baniya has scheduled a provincial assembly meeting for 4 p.m. Tuesday to seek a vote of confidence. On 20th of Shrawan, Baniya assumed leadership of the government under Article 168 (2) of Nepal’s Constitution with the support of 27 CPN-UML lawmakers and 37 Nepali Congress lawmakers. To sustain his government, Baniya needs the backing of 56 lawmakers.

In the 110-member Bagmati Provincial Assembly, the main opposition party, CPN (Maoist Centre), holds 21 seats, Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has 13, CPN (Unified Socialist) has 7, Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party (NMKP) has 3, and Hamro Nepali Party has 2 seats.

People’s News Monitoring Service