Kathmandu ∙ In Nepal, the former Maoist guerrilla leader ‘Prachanda’ became prime minister for the third time. Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda (68), leader of the Maoist Center of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-MC), was sworn in. Prachanda, who was running in alliance with the ruling Nepalese Congress, broke the alliance and joined opposition leader KP Sharma Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal – United Marxist Leninist Party (CPN-UML). Prachanda and Oli will share the post of prime minister for two and a half out of five years.
In the election, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Dubey’s Nepalese Congress won 89 seats and CPN-MC won 32 seats, while Oli’s CPN-UML won 78 seats. Discussions were ongoing with no one obtaining a clear majority.
It was agreed to share administration with Dubey. However, Dubey refused Prachanda’s request that he want the first two and a half years. Prachanda then joined Oli. With the addition of other small parties, the coalition became 7 parties. Prachanda said the reason for the collapse of the alliance was that the Nepalese Congress had asked for the presidency beyond the first round.
Prachanda delivered the letter to President Bidya Devi Bhandari showing the support of 169 members of the 275-member Parliament. 3 deputy prime ministers and ministers were sworn in. The deputy prime ministers are Bishnu Paudal (CPN-UML), Narayan Kaji Shrestha (CPN-MC) and Rabi Lamichane of another Rashtriya Swatra Party (RSP) ally. In 2006, the party entered the electoral arena after the peace agreement.
Prachanda announced that India and China would be evenly matched. Prachanda and Oli are known to be biased towards China. India and Nepal share an 1850 km long border which runs through the states of UP, Bengal, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Sikkim. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and others congratulated Prachanda.
English summary: Prachanda new prime minister of Nepal
