On Wednesday Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Maoist Party chairperson, also known as Prachanda, was  elected as the new Prime Minister of Nepal after K.P. Oli resigned rather than facing defeat in a vote of no-confidence.

Speaker Onsari Gharti who declared the results said a total of 573 members out of total 598 (including the speaker) cast their votes.

The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) led by outgoing Prime Minister K. P. Oli and Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal voted against the motion.

Dahal had led a guerrilla war against the government in the past and later served as prime minister of Nepal from 2008 to 2009. He becomes the 24th prime minister in 26 years since the Himalayan nation adopted multi-party democracy in 1990

Answering to some questions put forth by Oli during his speech, Dahal said the new government would give continuity to development projects and agreements signed with neighbouring nations. Development projects were not actually initiated by the outgoing government, but by previous governments, he added.

On Thursday Dahal who will be heading a coalition government comprising Nepali Congress, will be taking oath of office and secrecy at the President’s Office.

Dahal returns to the post for the second time after a gap of over seven years.

(prepared from media sources by Seema Kumari)

  Nepal