In this Feb 23, 2021 photo, Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli attends his birthday celebration at an orphanage in Kathmandu after the Supreme's Court overturned the prime minister's decision to dissolve parliament. (PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP)

KATHMANDU - The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) has decided to withdraw its support for the KP Sharma Oli government in Nepal, pushing the communist government into minority.

KP Sharma Oli was elected as the prime minister in February 2018 with the support of the Maoist Centre

The Standing Committee meeting of the party on Tuesday decided to withdraw the support in an attempt to find its alternative. "The party has decided to withdraw the support," Ganesh Sah, a Standing Committee member of the party, told Xinhua. "We will send the letter to the parliament on Wednesday."

Oli was elected as the prime minister in February 2018 with the support of the Maoist Centre. The CPN-UML and the Maoist Centre were merged in May 2018 to form the Nepal Communist Party. The party, however, was dissolved and returned to the pre-merger condition following the Supreme Court's verdict on March 7.

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The Oli government will lose its majority once the Maoist Centre, which has 49 lawmakers, informs the parliament about its decision to withdraw its support. The UML has 121 lawmakers. Oli needs the support of 136 members of the House of Representatives, which has 271 members at present, to remain in power.

The Oli-government has already announced to take the vote of confidence from the parliament on May 10. "The voting on the vote of confidence will be done on May 10," Roj Nath Pandey, spokesperson at the Parliament Secretariat, told Xinhua. "The government will need the support of 136 lawmakers to win the vote."