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Nepal prime minister survives confidence vote

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January 5, 2001 

KATMANDU-- (AP) - Nepal's prime minister Thursday survived a no-confidence vote brought against him by rebel members of his party, protesting political instability in the country.

The rebelling lawmakers themselves boycotted the voting in which 69 of the total 113 party lawmakers voted against the motion to dislodge Girija Prasad Koirala. There were no votes favoring the motion. Three members were absent.

The rebels members walked out, protesting the voting process. They were seeking a secret ballot while the voting was public, in which lawmakers raised hands and signed a document.

"This is a conspiracy to split the party and since the leadership is not ready to listen to us and go by the regulations of the party, we have decided to boycott the process," said Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is leading the rebellion.

The no-confidence motion signed by 56 members was filed last week seeking Koirala's ouster from the office he has held for the past nine months. The ruling Nepali Congress has 113 lawmakers in the 205-member lower house of Parliament.

Many of the party rebels later changed their minds, dropping their strength to 41 and boosting Koirala's chances.

Many members in the party were afraid to vote openly against Koirala, who has held power for most of the time since multiparty democracy was restored in Nepal in 1990.

"This is a proposal which you can either support or oppose. Therefore there was no need for a secret ballot," said party spokesman Narhari Acharya.

The Himalayan state has seen eight governments collapse since democracy replaced the absolute monarchy in 1990.

Dissatisfied Congress party members had accused Koirala of failing to quell a Maoist insurgency or provide political stability.

"These allegations are far from the truth. The government has introduced reforms in internal security and laws to deal with the situation," Koirala told the members.

Koirala became prime minister in March after leading a similar revolt within the party against then Prime Minister K.P. Bhattarai, whom he accused of failing to maintain law and order and provide good governance.

Nearly 1,500 people have died since the Maoist rebels, who model themselves after Peru's Shining Path guerrillas, began fighting government forces in 1996. The guerrillas are demanding an end to the country's constitutional monarchy and the feudal social structure in parts of Nepal.