Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal lost a parliamentary vote of confidence on Friday, ending a tumultuous 20-month tenure that saw him survive four such trust votes, and paving the way for the formation of a new coalition government.

Dahal, 69, was forced to either resign or prove his majority in parliament after his largest ally, the liberal Communist Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) party, withdrew support to his government last week.

He needed at least 138 votes in his favour in the 275-member house to retain power.

A total of 63 of the 258 lawmakers present in the chambers voted for Dahal on Friday, while 194 voted against him and one abstained.

“The confidence vote sought by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been rejected,” Parliament Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire declared after the ballots were counted.

(Reuters)