Submit your Article

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Monday secured a vote of confidence at the House of Representatives yet again—his fourth trust vote since assuming office on 26 Dec 2022—even as the main opposition party, the Nepali Congress, continued with its strident protest demanding a parliamentary investigation into Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane’s alleged involvement in a cooperative fraud. 

The development comes days after a vertical split in the Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSPN), the resignation of JSPN Chair Upendra Yadav as Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Upendra Yadav and Minister of State for Health Deepak Karki, and emergence of the breakaway faction, JSP, as a partner in the Dahal-led coalition government.          

At the day’s second meeting of the lower chamber of the Federal Parliament, Prime Minister Dahal sought a trust vote after getting a go-ahead from Speaker Devraj Ghimire, amidst a loud protest from Congress lawmakers, who shouted slogans against the procedures to present PM Dahal’s proposal to obtain the trust vote and picketed the well. Expressing solidarity with the Congress, lawmakers from other opposition parties stood from their seats during the proceedings.

Despite the opposition bench’s show of strength, the Dahal-led coalition government passed yet another crucial floor test as Speaker Ghimire announced that 157 out of 158 lawmakers in the 275-member HoR, who took part in the vote of confidence procedures, voted for the government while one chose to remain neutral.

The major opposition has been obstructing parliamentary proceedings, demanding the establishment of a parliamentary committee to impartially investigate the alleged involvement of Deputy Prime Minister Lamichhane in the misappropriation of cooperative funds.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dahal, responding to questions related to the trust vote later in the day, accused the main opposition party of demonstrating unparliamentary behavior by not creating a conducive environment for a Prime Minister to seek a vote of confidence in line with the Constitution. 

“You supported me as the prime minister in the past, but today you tried to obstruct the House and prevent me from seeking a vote of confidence. This incident will go down as a blot in parliamentary history,” PM Dahal said, referring to the Congress. 

He thanked the CPN-UML and other parties and parliamentarians, who voted for his government. 

UML Vice-chair Bishnu Prasad Poudel, who  seconded PM Dahal’s proposal seeking a trust vote for his government in accordance with Article 100 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal, requested the Congress to uphold democratic norms and values by ending the deadlock in the parliament. 

“I request all the parties to support the government to speed up national development by contributing to political stability. I call upon the Nepali Congress in particular to reconsider its role and follow democratic practices in the parliament,” Poudel said. 

Dahal’s tryst with trust vote

1. 10 Jan 2023: PM Dahal won 268 votes in the floor test, while 2 votes went against him

2. 20 March 2023: After the CPN-UML withdrew support to his government, Dahal underwent yet another floor test, securing 172 in favor of and 89 votes against his government

3. 4 March 2024: After the Congress withdrew support, PM Dahal again joined hands with the CPN-UML and other parties on March 4, securing 157 votes in favor of his government

4. 20 May 2024: After a vertical split in Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal and the formation of JSP under Ashok Rai, PM Dahal underwent the floor test yet again, securing 157 votes in favor of his government

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal secured a vote of confidence for the fourth tiime in the House of Representatives on Monday.

Dahal received 157 votes while none of the lawmakers voted against him. One lawmaker remained neutral.

The prime minister required at least 138 votes to win the trust motion.

Prime Minister Dahal sought a vote of confidence after Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal led by Upendra Yadav withdrew support to the government.

Earlier, Speaker Devraj Ghimire postponed the meeting for 15 minutes following obstructions from the main opposition Nepali Congress.

In the following meeting, Prime Minister Dahal tabled a proposal to seek a vote of confidence.

The opposition parties including the Nepali Congress obstructed the Parliament proceedings demanding formation of a parliamentary committee to investigate Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane’s alleged involvement in embezzling the funds of cooperatives.

Prime Minister Dahal sought a vote of confidence for the first time on January 10, 2023, second time on March 20, 2023 and third time on March 13, 2024.

The next meeting of the House of Representatives has been scheduled for 11 am on Tuesday.

Samriddhi School is an institution dedicated to nurturing creativity and fostering a passion for knowledge and discovery in its students. Here, learners are valued for their curiosity and encouraged to explore, rather than being treated as rote memorization machines. The school emphasizes a comprehensive academic orientation, focusing on Science, Technology, English/Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM). Additionally, it prioritizes other key areas essential for overall academic achievement and sustained excellence. ApEx interviewed Chandra Mani Maharjan, +2 academic director of the school, to gain insights into the school and its educational philosophy.

What are the considerations that students have to take for further studies after Secondary Education Examination (SEE)?

There are numerous fields that students can choose after SEE like Science, Management, Humanities, Law, A-Level, Medical Courses, CTEVT etc. Every field has its own benefits and importance. After SEE, students should choose the field wisely considering their interest, future plans, aims and goals rather than following their friends. 

The next step is finding the best school that will help students achieve their goal. Before choosing and getting admission in school, students should know about the school. The major features that students should consider in a school are: a) teaching faculties; b) academic achievements; c) infrastructure; d) facilities provided to students; e) co-curricular and extra-curricular activities; and f) location and school environment.

How would you describe your school as a center for quality education?

Samriddhi School (+2), it is not merely a place of learning; it is a melting pot of cultures, ideas, and aspirations. It is a place where differences are not just tolerated but celebrated, where individuals are encouraged to embrace their uniqueness and learn from one another. It’s a school for the 21st century where learning is fun and life-long. Samriddhi School is committed to inspiring and motivating students to achieve the highest standards of intellectual development as well as personal growth, through a stimulating and comprehensive educational program. In this institution, we believe in upholding high standards with an absolute commitment to strive to understand and improve the educational process, using team strategies, while wholly centering on a student’s achievement.

We envision Samriddhi School as a dynamic and inspiring educational institution that sets an example for the learning community. We are committed to providing an outstanding learning environment to our students, to enable them to excel and thrive in a complex, constantly changing world, getting more interconnected by the day.

The mission of Samriddhi School is to produce lifelong learners with a value system that turns them into good human beings. Honesty, integrity, and sincerity are values that form the strong foundation on which we build an educational process, culminating in academic and personal success of our students.

Why should students choose Samriddhi School?

Samriddhi School is established by the qualified and experienced group of academicians at Kathmandu-16, Balaju with well-furnished digital classroom, spacious cafeteria, modernized library, sophisticated computer lab, event hall and ample playground.

Besides providing the quality education best on the NEB curriculum, it focuses on holistic development of the student through various events and activities. Here at Samriddhi, students get the opportunity to learn from the qualified, trained and well experienced teaching faculties. The innovative teaching methodology adopted by the teaching faculties with audio-visual, presentation and demonstration approach, will help students to understand the subjects matters easily and this is one of the major reasons for acquiring best academic achievement every year. 

In this current dynamic and changing era, besides the standard formal education, if students are not unable to prepare and equipped themselves with the necessary skills, they won’t be able to compete in the global market. Taking this into consideration, Samriddhi School has been following best educational practices that includes a rich curriculum and other necessary skills. We provide different skills as per the capability and interest of the students. Through the various co-curricular activities, we have been providing our students, different skills like communication skills, presentation skills and leadership skills. Competitions like business startup challenge, Shark Tank will help the students develop the knowledge of entrepreneurship among the students.

Besides that, we have also been providing additional IT courses like IT essential through Samriddhi Cisco Academy and coding classes.

Throughout the year, students of the internal management team organize other different club-based activities through various clubs like Sports club, Social club, Cultural club, Art club, IT club, Entrepreneurs’ club, Photography club, Literature club, Music club, Dance club etc. These events help our students to show and sharpen their potential in various fields and eventually make them competitive in the global arena.   

How can the education sector contribute to solving the issue of brain drain?

The emigration of highly skilled and educated individuals from one country to another, has been a growing concern for our nation. The major factors for this issue are limited opportunities, a discriminated education system, no accessible and affordable education, a desire for quality education, specialized fields of study, research opportunities, social and economic factors, education priorities and enhanced career prospects.

We can begin to reverse the brain drain by taking effective measures. We can, for example, create an environment in the education sector that nurtures talent, shows pathways or provides rewarding career prospects to retain skilled professionals from going abroad. This will also help in driving sustainable growth of our country.

The major ruling and opposition parties represented in the Federal Parliament failed to agree on the terms of reference (ToR) for the parliamentary committee supposed to investigate the issue of co-operative fraud, rendering Sunday’s meeting of the working group at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs inconclusive and indicating that they will continue to hold the parliament hostage. 

Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) continued to dig in heels on the thorny issue, with Shishir Khanal, a working group member and a Member of Parliament (MP) from the ruling party, demanding that the entire cooperative sector be brought under investigation as it is “unfair to investigate only one person”, giving the main opposition Nepali Congress not much leeway. 

But a short break from the standoff came as Deputy Prime Minister Lamichhane fielded questions at the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the federal parliament, regarding his alleged involvement in the cooperative fraud and denied his role in the case. He asked the main opposition Nepali Congress to think seriously on whether to form a committee targeted at individuals, even as NC’s Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhar said that while the government was ready to form such a panel, UML was not willing to bring Deputy Prime Minister Lamichhane under investigation. 

After Home Minister Lamichhane finished speaking, Members of Parliament from the main opposition Nepali Congress got up from their seats and demanded that they be allowed to speak. But Speaker Devraj Ghimire adjourned the meeting till 11 am on Monday. 

Meanwhile, the upper chamber of the federal parliament continued to bear the brunt of the standoff. The meeting of the National Assembly (NA) initially scheduled for 1:15 pm on Sunday was deferred to 3:15 pm, only to be postponed until Monday. On Sunday, NA Chair Narayana Prasad Dahal was to inform the assembly about a letter received from the Office of the President regarding the appointment of ministers and ministers of state, as well as the allocation of ministerial portfolios. 

The NC has long been obstructing the parliamentary proceedings, alleging the involvement of Deputy Prime Minister Lamichhane in the fraud and demanding the formation of a parliamentary committee to ensure a fair investigation into the case whereas the CPN-UML and RSP in particular have made it clear in no uncertain terms that an individual-centric probe is simply unacceptable.