July 10, 2008	Thursday	Rajab 6, 1429

NEW DELHI, July 9: A bloc of Indian left-wing parties on Wednesday formally requested a confidence vote in parliament after pulling support for the ruling coalition over a controversial nuclear pact with the United States.

“We have met the president and all four of our left parties have submitted their letters withdrawing support from the government,” Marxist leader Prakash Karat, who has spearheaded communist opposition to the deal, told reporters in New Delhi.

“They also submitted a second letter jointly requesting the president to direct the prime minister to face a confidence motion in the Lok Sabha (lower house) immediately.”

Media reports have suggested the no-confidence motion could come as soon as July 21, with Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee saying on Tuesday that he would seek a special session of parliament, which is in recess until August 11.

The left’s pull-out has shorn the four-year-old ruling coalition, which holds only 224 seats on its own, of a vital additional 59 seats. The government must win at least 272 seats to pass the vote in India’s 545-seat parliament.

The left’s decision, however, was not expected to cause the collapse of the Congress-led government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who last week managed to win a pledge of support from a regional party with 39 seats.

But the next days will still be tense for the government with some reports saying the new ally – the Samajwadi Party – has some members of its own who are threatening to break ranks.

The break-off in relations was galvanised by signs in recent weeks that Singh’s government was planning to push forward the nuclear deal with the United States which has been stalled for a year due to objections from the left.

Singh and US President George W. Bush in 2005 unveiled the agreement to share civilian nuclear technology – a deal that when finalised would see India entering the fold of global nuclear commerce after being shut out for decades.

The prime minister argues the pact is crucial for India’s energy security and to sustain high economic growth. The country currently imports more than 70 per cent of its energy needs, and requires an overhaul of its decrepit nuclear energy sector.

The Indian government’s frantic wooing of a new ally has been viewed as a sign that the government was shoring up support ahead of finalising an India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency – the next step required to implement the pact.

The communist and left-wing parties who have pulled out insist the deal would bind India too closely to the United States, and have threatened repeatedly to force early elections if it moves forward.—AFP