Kathmandu: Koshi Province Chief Minister Hikmat Bahadur Karki has lost his position after failing to secure the vote of confidence during a floor test in the provincial assembly on Friday. The chief minister’s motion of confidence was rejected by a meeting of the provincial assembly.
Speaker Baburam Gautam announced that a total of 43 votes were cast against the trust motion, while 46 provincial assembly members supported Chief Minister Karki.
The appointment of Hikmat Bahadur Karki as the chief minister of the province on January 8, by Province Head Parashuram Khapung, was based on his claim to the post with the support of 60 members. Besides his party UML, Karki was backed by the CPN (Maoist Centre), the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, and the Janata Samajbadi Party.
However, the formation of a new government in the province now presents a challenging task. The hung provincial assembly requires the support of 47 members for the formation of a new government. Among the 93-member provincial assembly, the UML holds 40 seats, the Congress has 29, the Maoist Centre has 13, the RPP has 6, the CPN (Unified Socialist) has 4, and the Janata Samajbadi Party holds one seat.
Both the Congress-led bloc and the UML-RPP alliance have an equal number of seats, with 46 each, further complicating the process of crafting a ruling coalition. Adding to the complexity is the fact that the UML is the largest party in the province, making negotiations and consensus-building crucial for any potential government formation.
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