Fearing a no-confidence motion against him, Chief Minister of Gandaki Province Prithvi Subba Gurung prorogued the Provincial Assembly last night.

However, the letter of provincial chief Amik Sherchan saying that the provincial assembly had been prorogued from last night was forwarded only on Thursday as Wednesday was a public holiday on the occasion of Nepali New Year's day.

“I had received the letter yesterday but I forwarded it only today after the offices opened,” Sherchan, the provincial chief, told the Post over the phone. “As per the provincial government’s recommendation, the ongoing session of the assembly has ended from midnight Wednesday.”

The Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), Janata Samajbadi Party were preparing to register a no-confidence motion on Thursday after Rastriya Janamorcha decided to withdraw its support to the UML’s Gurung-led government on Wednesday.

In the 60-member assembly, the UML has 27 members, Congress 15, Maoist Centre 12, Rastriya Janamorcha 3, and the Janata Samajbadi Party has 2 members.

After the March 7 decision of the Supreme Court that revived CPN-UML and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), Gurung had the support of Rastriya Janamorcha.

But the Rastriya Janamorcha decided to withdraw support on Wednesday saying that Chief Minister Gurung had supported Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli when he decided to dissolve the House of Representatives.

On April 7 two ministers of Maoist Centre— Internal Affairs Minister Hari Bahadur Chuman and Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives Lekh Bahadur Thapa—had left the government but the Maoist Centre has not withdrawn the support.

“We will register the no-confidence motion today,” said Chuman. “Once the no-confidence is registered the assembly should be called within 15 days.”

According to Maoist Centre leaders, the party has agreed to support the Nepali Congress to lead the Gandaki provincial government while it will lead the government in Lumbini.

“The no-confidence motion will be registered naming Krishna Chandra Nepali, the leader of the Nepali Congress parliamentary party as the new chief minister,” said Chuman.