Lawmakers mount bid to oust Nepal premier+

0 Comments | Asian Political News, Jan 1, 2001

KATHMANDU, Dec. 28 Kyodo

The Nepalese government plunged into another crisis Thursday after dissenting legislators from the ruling Nepali Congress Party (NCP) initiated a move to oust Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

Fifty-six NCP members of the House of Representatives submitted a petition to the party parliamentary board stating they no longer had confidence in Koirala as leader, said former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is heading the ''rebel group'' of NCP lawmakers.

NCP's 111 parliamentary members are to meet within two weeks to discuss the matter, and possibly elect a new leader.

Technically, Koirala can remain premier without retaining leadership over the parliamentary members of the party.

Under Nepal's Constitution, a prime minister can be removed from his post only if he loses a no-confidence motion in parliament.

Koirala, however, was appointed to the office as the leader of the ruling party's parliamentary members, and will be hard pressed to keep his position.

''The move is designed to exert pressure on the premier to quit,'' Deuba said.

Koirala, 77, who is also president of the NCP, was appointed prime minister on March 20, 2000, after he was elected leader of the NCP parliamentary members.

He replaced former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, who stepped down after he was charged with failure to give good governance and control corruption in high places.

The NCP ''rebels'' have now demanded that Koirala give up one of the two positions -- prime minister or party president -- or face a no-confidence motion.

Koirala met with Bhattarai on Wednesday to discuss ways to handle ongoing student protests in the kingdom.

Nepalese newspapers reported Thursday that Koirala was asked to step down on grounds that he had failed to maintain law and order, let alone good governance, in the country.

Bhattarai has not signed the petition against Koirala, an NCP official said.