Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) KP Sharma Oli talks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Feb. 13, 2017. Chairman of CPN-UML party KP Sharma Oli on Thursday became the 41st Prime Minister of Nepal. (Xinhua/Sunil Sharma)
KATHMANDU, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli on Thursday became the 41st Prime Minister of Nepal.
His appointment comes following the resignation of Sher Bahadur Deuba from the post in the wake of completion of the electoral processes of provinces, House of Representatives and National Assembly.
Deuba, the four-time prime minister and also the president of Nepali Congress party, had resigned from the post after making an address to the nation this morning.
Issuing a statement immediately, the Office of the President informed that Oli became the new prime minister of Nepal under Article 76 (2) of the constitution.
The article states that if no party gets clear majority, the president shall appoint the new prime minister who has majority support of two or more parties represented in the House of Representatives. The left alliance comprising CPN UML and CPN Maoist Centre has a comfortable majority in the 275-member House of Representatives.
Oli's party CPN UML emerged as the largest political party in the elections and officially claimed for the formation of the new government with support from the CPN Maoist Centre led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
This is the second time that UML chairman Oli has become the prime minister of the Himalayan nation. In October 2015, he was elected as the 38th prime minister, a month after the promulgation of a new constitution in September.
KP Sharma Oli was born in 1952 in an eastern district Terathum located in Province 1. He will be sworn in by President Bidya Devi Bhandari later in the day.
His appointment comes at a time when Nepal is going on a federal set-up as provisioned in the new constitution.
Nepal successfully conducted the three-tier elections of local bodies, provinces and parliament in 2017, giving high hopes to local people that the country will usher in much-needed political stability and development.
