<p>Kathmandu: Nepal is set for a new coalition government led by politician K P Sharma Oli after the more radical Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal lost a parliamentary vote of confidence on Friday, ending a tumultuous 20-month tenure.</p><p>Nepal has been politically unstable since it abolished a 239-year-old monarchy in 2008. Oli's new government will be the 14th since then.</p><p>Its politics are closely monitored by its two big neighbours China and India, who have invested heavily in the Himalayan country as they jostle for influence.</p><p>Dahal, 69, was forced to either resign or prove his majority in parliament after his largest ally, the liberal Communist Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) party, led by Oli, withdrew support last week.</p><p>Oli, who has been prime minister twice before, struck a deal with the centrist Nepali Congress (NC) at the end of June, securing enough seats for a majority, meaning he is poised to govern, but no date has been set for the new government to take office.</p><p>Dahal, a former Maoist rebel chief, needed at least 138 votes in his favour in the 275-member house to retain power. A total of 63 of the 258 lawmakers present in the chambers voted for him, 194 voted against, and one abstained.</p><p>"The confidence vote sought by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been rejected," Parliament Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire declared after the ballots were counted.</p><p>In his third term as prime minister, which began in December 2022, Dahal changed his main coalition partner three times and had to seek a vote of confidence five times, including the one he lost on Friday.</p>.Deuba-Oli discuss new government formation, future course of action ahead of Nepal PM Prachanda's floor test.<p>"The new coalition was necessitated by a need for political stability," UML lawmaker Yogesh Bhattarai said.</p><p>In a speech ahead of Friday's vote, Dahal said Oli's coalition of the two biggest political parties was against democratic practice.</p><p>NC is the largest party in parliament and UML is the second largest.</p><p>"I am concerned this might lead to regression and authoritarianism," said Dahal, whose Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) is the third largest party.</p>
<p>Kathmandu: Nepal is set for a new coalition government led by politician K P Sharma Oli after the more radical Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal lost a parliamentary vote of confidence on Friday, ending a tumultuous 20-month tenure.</p><p>Nepal has been politically unstable since it abolished a 239-year-old monarchy in 2008. Oli's new government will be the 14th since then.</p><p>Its politics are closely monitored by its two big neighbours China and India, who have invested heavily in the Himalayan country as they jostle for influence.</p><p>Dahal, 69, was forced to either resign or prove his majority in parliament after his largest ally, the liberal Communist Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) party, led by Oli, withdrew support last week.</p><p>Oli, who has been prime minister twice before, struck a deal with the centrist Nepali Congress (NC) at the end of June, securing enough seats for a majority, meaning he is poised to govern, but no date has been set for the new government to take office.</p><p>Dahal, a former Maoist rebel chief, needed at least 138 votes in his favour in the 275-member house to retain power. A total of 63 of the 258 lawmakers present in the chambers voted for him, 194 voted against, and one abstained.</p><p>"The confidence vote sought by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been rejected," Parliament Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire declared after the ballots were counted.</p><p>In his third term as prime minister, which began in December 2022, Dahal changed his main coalition partner three times and had to seek a vote of confidence five times, including the one he lost on Friday.</p>.Deuba-Oli discuss new government formation, future course of action ahead of Nepal PM Prachanda's floor test.<p>"The new coalition was necessitated by a need for political stability," UML lawmaker Yogesh Bhattarai said.</p><p>In a speech ahead of Friday's vote, Dahal said Oli's coalition of the two biggest political parties was against democratic practice.</p><p>NC is the largest party in parliament and UML is the second largest.</p><p>"I am concerned this might lead to regression and authoritarianism," said Dahal, whose Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) is the third largest party.</p>