Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba announced his resignation from the post on Thursday. Following this, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), named its chairperson Khadga Prasad Oli (pictured above) as its choice for the next prime minister of the country.
The CPN(UML)’s standing committee met in Lalitpur on Wednesday to elect Oli as its prime ministerial candidate, senior party leader Surendra Pandey told PTI. They met President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Thursday morning to present their choice, The Himalayan Times reported. Oli has been prime minister earlier as well, from October 2015 to August 2016.
The CPN(UML) was the largest party in the elections of December 2017. No single party had got a majority in the election results, but the Left coalition of former Maoist rebels and the CPN(UML) together had 174 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives.
Nepal’s constitution came into force in 2015, almost nine years after a peace deal ended the decade-long Maoist insurgency, paving way for democracy from monarchy. It was hoped that the new government that gets elected will be stable and be the first to complete a full five-year term.
The last 11 years have seen as many as 10 leaders in the country, apart from widespread corruption and devastation after a powerful earthquake in 2015.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!