Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Monday lost a confidence vote in parliament, the speaker said, pitching the nation into political turmoil at a time when it is battling a major second wave of COVID-19 infections.
Oli’s moderate communist party split from former Maoist rebels in March after differences over its power-sharing deal, wiping out the governing majority. Political parties will now try to cobble together a new ruling coalition.
Nepalese Parliament Speaker Agni Sapkota said that of 232 lawmakers present, 93 voted in favor of Oli, while 124 were against and 15 abstained.
Photo: Reuters
“The confidence vote sought by Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli has been rejected,” Sapkota said at the end of the counting of ballots.
The head of the main Maoist group, who goes by his nom de guerre of Prachanda, accused the 69-year-old prime minister of sidelining party leaders, ignoring collective decisionmaking and undermining the role of parliament.
“He has created instability and is behind the crisis the country is facing now,” Prachanda said. “He does not have the confidence of parliament anymore.”
Oli has been criticized by opponents and on social media for playing down the risk of the pandemic and asking citizens to “wash the virus down” the throat by drinking a solution of hot water, guava leaves and turmeric powder.
Nepal on Monday reported 9,127 new infections, 27 times the number recorded on April 10. The total caseload stands at 403,794, with 3,859 deaths, government data showed.
Oli told parliament that the government is focused on fighting the pandemic, and had prepared more hospitals, intensive care unit (ICU) beds, ventilators and testing facilities.
“The country needs dialogue, consensus, unity and understanding among political parties to fight against COVID-19, and for the economic development and prosperity of the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, the nation is so short of oxygen canisters that it has asked climbers on Mount Everest to bring back their empties instead of abandoning them on the slopes, an official said on Monday.
Nepal issued climbing permits to more than 700 climbers for 16 Himalayan peaks — 408 to Mount Everest — for the April-to-May climbing season in a bid to get the mountaineering industry and tourism back up and running.
The Nepal Mountaineering Association has asked climbers to help Nepal deal with a surge in COVID-19 cases that has brought the nation’s healthcare system to breaking point.
Kul Bahadur Gurung, a senior official with the association, said climbers and their Sherpa guides were estimated to have carried at least 3,500 oxygen bottles this season.
The bottles often get buried in avalanches or are abandoned on the slopes at the end of an expedition.
“We appeal to climbers and Sherpas to bring back their empty bottles wherever possible, as they can be refilled and used for the treatment of the coronavirus patients who are in dire need,” Gurung said.
Many private and community hospitals in Kathmandu have said they are unable to take any more patients due to lack of oxygen. There is a shortage of both the gas and canisters.
“We need about 25,000 oxygen cylinders immediately to save people from dying. This is our urgent need,” Nepalese Ministry of Health and Population official Samir Kumar Adhikari said. “We also need oxygen plants, compressors and ICU beds urgently.”
Nepal has asked China to send 20,000 cylinders, some of which are to be airlifted to meet urgent needs, another official said.
China has pledged to provide oxygen cylinders, ventilators and other medical supplies, Nepalese Minister of Health and Population Hridayesh Tripathi said.
Nepal has only 1,600 ICU beds and fewer than 600 ventilators for its population of 30 million, with just 0.7 doctors per 100,000 people, ActionAid Nepal said.
Prakash Thapa, a doctor at Bheri hospital in Nepalgunj, in southwest Nepal bordering India, said that patients were sleeping on the floor and in the corridors.
“We are somehow managing so far, but it will be difficult to take any more patients,” Thapa said.
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