Nepal’s prime minister Dahal loses a confidence vote forcing him to step down

KAPrime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal lost his confidence vote on Friday, leading to the collapse of his government.

Of the 258 lawmakers present on Friday in the House of Representatives (HoR), 63 votes were cast in favor of Dahal, while 194 votes– more than the two-third majority in the 275-member parliament– were cast against him. One lawmaker abstained from voting.

Dahal needed 138 votes to win the trust vote in the 275-strong House of Representatives.

Those casting votes in his favor included lawmakers from Maoist Center, Unified Socialist and Rastriya Swatantra Party.

Those casting votes against him included lawmakers from Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), JSP-Nepal and Janamat Party.

Dahal, also known as Prachanda, or the “fierce one,” led a violent Maoist communist insurgency from 1996 to 2006. More than 17,000 people were killed and the status of many others remains unknown.

The Maoists gave up their armed revolt, joined a U.N.-assisted peace process in 2006 and entered mainstream politics. Dahal’s party secured the most parliamentary seats in 2008 and he became prime minister, but quit a year later over differences with the president.