Nepal has a new coalition government led by politician K.P. Sharma Oli after the more radical Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal lost a confidence vote in parliament on Friday, ending a tumultuous 20-month term.
Nepal has been in a state of political instability since it abolished its 239-year-old monarchy in 2008. Oli's new government is the 14th since then.
The country's politics are closely watched by its two biggest neighbors, China and India, which have invested heavily in the Himalayan nation and are competing for influence.
Dahal, 69, was forced to either resign or prove his majority in parliament after his main ally, Oli's liberal communist United Marxist-Leninist Party (UML), withdrew its support for him last week.
Oli, who has served as prime minister twice, struck a deal with the centrist Nepali Congress (NC) in late June that gave him enough seats for a majority, meaning he is ready to rule, but no date has yet been set for a new prime minister to form a government.
Dahal, a former Maoist rebel leader, needed at least 138 votes in the 275-member lower house to stay in power. A total of 63 of the 258 MPs present voted for him, 194 voted against and one abstained.
"The vote of confidence requested by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been rejected," National Assembly Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire said after the votes were counted.
In his third term as prime minister, which begins in December 2022, Dahal has had to change key coalition partners three times and seek a confidence vote five times, including the one he lost on Friday. "The need for political stability necessitated a new coalition government," said UML lawmaker Yogesh Bhattarai.
Speaking before the vote on Friday, Dahal said Oli's two-party alliance goes against democratic practices.
The NC is the largest party in parliament and the UML is second.
"I am worried that this will lead to regression and authoritarianism," said Dahal, whose Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) is the third-largest party.
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