KATHMANDU: Nepal's K.P. Sharma Oli resigned as prime minister on Sunday, minutes before facing a no-confidence motion in parliament he was certain to lose, plunging the impoverished nation into fresh turmoil.
His political rivals, former Maoist rebels, called for the vote against Oli after they deserted his fragile ruling coalition, accusing him of reneging on past deals and following deadly unrest over a divisive new constitution.
"I have decided to open the road to elect a new prime minister in this parliament and presented my resignation to the president," Oli told lawmakers who were set to vote on the no-confidence motion.
In his speech, the embattled premier accused rival lawmakers of undermining his nine-month-old government, which he said was working to rebuild the Himalayan country after a devastating earthquake last year.
"I am concerned that the steps taken were driven by selfishness and revenge (and they) will cause a long-term negative impact and push the country to instability," he said of the motion, during the nearly two-hour speech.
Oli's resignation is the latest crisis to hit Nepal which has been struggling to rebuild the quake last April that claimed almost 9,000 lives.
The former rebels and main opposition Nepali Congress party had said they would try to form a new administration if Oli lost the vote, with Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal as premier.
Dahal, the country's first prime minister after the Maoist insurgency ended in 2006, pulled his party from Oli's coalition two weeks ago, leaving it without a majority.
Dahal, better known by his nom-de-guerre Prachanda, painted Oli as an egocentric who refused to listen to the people and demanded that he resign.
After debate on the motion kicked off on Friday, two smaller parties also abandoned the coalition, leaving Oli's Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) floundering for support.
The Maoists joined Oli's government last October, weeks after Nepal adopted the new national constitution.
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