Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulates the Prime Minister of Nepal on winning a vote of confidence

• Khan said that he looks forward to further deepening the friendly relations between Pakistan and Nepal.
• The Prime Minister of Nepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba, who has been in power four times, won 165 votes.
• He faces the urgent task of procuring vaccines and controlling the spread of COVID-19.

Islamabad: A few days after the Supreme Court restored the legislature that was disbanded in May, Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Monday for winning a vote of confidence in Parliament on Sunday.

“The Prime Minister looks forward to further deepening the friendly relations with Nepal,” the prime minister’s office tweeted through its official account.

Parliament spokesman Agni Sapkota said that the 75-year-old had held the position four times and won 165 votes-more than the required 136 votes-and 83 votes against him.

He faces the urgent task of procuring vaccines and controlling the spread of COVID-19. The government says he has infected 667,109 people and killed 9,550 people. Public health experts say that under-reporting of cases in the country means that the number may be higher.

Less than 4% of the country’s 30 million people have been vaccinated against COVID-19. As the government scrambles to vaccinate, more than 1.3 million people have already received the first dose and they are waiting for the second dose.

“Fighting against the new crown virus will be the top priority of the new government,” Deuba said in Parliament.

The new government promised to vaccinate one-third of its population in the next three months and to vaccinate every Nepalese by April next year.

Last Monday, the Supreme Court ordered Deuba to be appointed as prime minister, replacing KP Sharma Oli. It ruled that the dissolution of Parliament by Ollie, who had been in power for three years, violated the Constitution. However, according to the constitution, Deuba still needs to win a vote of confidence.

Deuba, the leader of the centrist Nepal National Congress Party, will lead an alliance with former Maoist insurgents and a political party representing the dominant minority community in the southern plains of Nepal.

Ollie, 69, said he was unfairly removed from office by the court and vowed to explain his position “to the people”.

Pradip Jawali, a senior official of the communist united Marxist-Leninist party of Olli, stated that the Olli government will “be remembered by the people for its many good deeds during its administration.”

— Opinion from Reuters.