Nepal’s new PM Sher Bahadur Deuba wins vote of confidence in Parliament

Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba secured a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives on Sunday, averting a general election in the Himalayan nation amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

Deuba, the 75-year-old President of the Nepali Congress who was appointed as the prime minister as per the Article 76(5) of the Constitution on July 12 following Supreme Court's intervention, secured 165 votes in the 275-member House on Sunday.

Deuba thanked Prime Minister Modi for the congratulatory note. "Thank you very much, Prime Minister @narendramodi Ji, for your congratulatory note. I look forward to closely working with you to strengthen the relationship between our two countries and people," tweeted Deuba.\

The new Nepali Prime Minister tweet comes after Prime Minister Modi congratulated him for winning the vote of confidence.

PM Modi said: "Congratulations Prime Minister @DeubaSherbdr and best wishes for a successful tenure. I look forward to working with you to further enhance our unique partnership in all sectors, and strengthen our deep-rooted people-to-people ties."

The 75-year-old, who has held the office four times before, won 165 votes — exceeding the 136 required — with 83 votes against him, parliament Speaker Agni Sapkota said. Deuba faces the immediate task of procuring vaccines and controlling the spread of Covid, which the government says has infected 6,67,109 people and killed 9,550.

Fewer than 4% of the country’s 30 million people have been fully vaccinated. “Combating Covid will be the first priority of the new government,” Deuba said in parliament.

KP Oli was ousted as the prime minister following a unanimous verdict of a five-member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court on July 12. The Bench ruled that the dissolved House be reinstated and that Deuba be appointed prime minister based on the letter of support that he had submitted to the President.

Deuba was required to seek a vote of confidence in the House within a month of being appointed Prime Minister.

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• Nepal’s new PM
• Sher Bahadur Deuba
• vote of confidence
• wins
• Parliament