Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has decided to seek a vote of confidence in Parliament on Wednesday.

The prime minister sent a letter to the Parliament Secretariat asking the latter to make arrangements for the vote. Shekhar Adhikari, press adviser to Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire, said the secretariat received the prime minister’s letter on Sunday.

The prime minister is going for the floor test as per Article 100(2) of the constitution that says “if the political party which the prime minister represents is divided or a political party in coalition government withdraws its support, the prime minister shall table a motion in the House of Representatives for a vote of confidence within thirty days.”

The Nepali Congress withdrew its support to the government after Dahal broke ties with the largest party and forged a new alliance with the CPN-UML and other parties on March 4.

The current coalition of the CPN-UML, the CPN (Maoist Centre), the Rastriya Swatantra Party, the Janata Samajbadi Party and the CPN (Unified Socialist) commands a comfortable majority to give the prime minister a vote of confidence.