by Gopal Sharma
KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Former Maoist guerrilla Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who led a decade-long insurgency against Nepal’s Hindu monarchy, was named prime minister on Sunday after the ruling coalition failed to secure an outright majority in elections. legislative elections in November.
Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who still uses his warlord name Prachanda – or “the ferocious” – and is starting his third term as prime minister, will lead the new government for the first half of the five-year term with support from the Communist Party Marxist-Leninist Union (UML) and a few other smaller groups, party officials said.
“He has been nominated and has the support of a large majority in parliament,” Tika Dhakal, an adviser to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, told Reuters.
Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who replaces Sher Bahadur Deuba, of the Nepalese Congress party, will leave office in 2025, to make way for the UML, according to local media.
“Such is the deal. The distribution of other key posts and ministries is yet to be determined,” Dev Gurung, general secretary of Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), told Reuters after a meeting of the new coalition. .
This new coalition comes to power hours after Pushpa Kamal Dahal, 68, unexpectedly quit the ruling alliance led by the incumbent prime minister, who refused to back him for the job.
The United Communist Party of Nepal won 32 of the 275 seats in parliament. The UML has 78 seats, and the rest, needed to secure a majority of 138 seats, will be controlled by smaller groups.
The Nepalese Congress becomes the main opposition party, with 89 seats.
Analysts say Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who has served as prime minister twice in less than a year, in 2008 and 2016, is unlikely to bring stability to the country due to his many partners of coalition. It also faces serious economic challenges.
Inflation is above 8%, the highest in six years. Nepal, wedged between China and India, is also facing dwindling foreign exchange reserves, with growing dependence on commodity imports.
Nepal has seen ten changes of government since 2008, when the 239-year-old monarchy was abolished.
(Report Gopal Sharma; French version Kate Entringer)