Nepali PM Oli wins vote of trust

Kathmandu, July 22: Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has won a vote of confidence at the House of Representatives, a week after he returned to power.

Leading a four-party coalition, Oli won the floor test by garnering a two-thirds majority in the 275-member chamber, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

"The vote of confidence motion has been endorsed as 188 lawmakers voted for it, which is more than a majority mark," said Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire.

While seeking support for the trust motion, Oli made public the seven-point agreement reached between his Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) and the Nepali Congress on the night of July 1 on forming a new coalition.

Under the deal, Oli will lead the government for the first two years, while Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba will head the government until the general election in 2027.

The CPN-UML quit and withdrew support to the coalition led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal after the deal was inked, leading to the collapse of Dahal's coalition.

Oli took office on July 15 as the Prime Minister for the fourth time, and he had to win a vote of trust within 30 days under the Constitution.