CJ Rana asks if PM can  refrain from taking trust vote from parliament

KATHMANDU, June 29: Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana asked whether Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli himself could declare that he would not take a vote of confidence from parliament as he was appointed as Article 76 (3) of the constitution.  During the ongoing hearing at the Constitutional Bench on Tuesday, Chief Justice Rana asked the Deputy Attorney General Padam Prasad Pandey whether PM can refrain from taking the trust vote as stated in Article 76 (4).  PM Oli had recommended to President Bidya Devi Bhandari to initiate the process of new government formation as per Article 76 (5) citing he did not have convincing political ground to win a confidence motion. In response to CJ Rana’s question, Deputy Attorney General Pandey said that the constitution does not have a provision that requires the prime minister to table a proposal at parliament that he does not want to go for a floor test. “As long as he [PM Oli] surrendered citing he could not win parliament’s confidence, he was not required to go for a floor test.”