The Koshi Province Assembly on Friday passed a resolution motion to direct Chief Minister Kedar Karki to seek a vote of confidence from the assembly.

Province Speaker Ambar Bahadur Bista announced that the motion, tabled by the CPN-UML, had been passed by a majority, with 52 assembly members voting in favour and three staying neutral. Members of the Nepali Congress, however, did not participate in the voting.

Bista declared the end of the special session, which had been summoned by Province Head Parshuram Khapung, stating that the assembly bore no purpose following the endorsement of the motion.

Lawmakers from the CPN-UML and Maoist Centre registered the motion as Chief Minister Karki refused to step down or to seek a vote of confidence from the assembly even after those who had earlier supported him withdrew their support.

The Karki government had been reduced to a minority after the CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) withdrew their support on April 8. The two parties in Koshi asked him either to prove his majority in the provincial assembly or resign. But he has been defying.

Based on the request of more than a quarter of the assembly members, Parshuram Khapung, the province head, summoned the session starting Thursday.

Writing to Speaker Ambar Bahadur Bista, the chief minister on Thursday requested him not to allow the motion to be presented in the assembly.