Prachanda becomes Nepal's PM for third time

CPN-Maoist Centre chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'  appointed  as the new Prime Minister of Nepal for the third time. President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed Prachanda as the prime minister as per Article 76 (2) of the constitution on Sunday evening. According to the sources,Prachanda along with CPN-UML chairman K P Sharma Oli, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) president Ravi Lamichhane, Rastriya Prajatantra Party chief Rajendra Lingden among other top leaders earlier went to the President's Office with a proposal to appoint him as the new Prime Minister, Prachanda has support of 165 lawmakers in the 275-member House of Representatives which includes CPN-UML with 78, CPN-MC with 32, RSP with 20, RPP with 14, JSP with 12, Janamat with 6 and Nagarik Unmukti Party with 3.

Article 76 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal states “in cases where no party has a clear majority in the House of Representatives, the President shall appoint as the Prime Minister a member of the House of Representatives who can command majority with the support of two or more parties representing to the House of Representatives.” Earlier, the President had given a weeklong time for the political parties to form the new government after the elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) taken place on November 20. The newly-appointed Prime Minister would be sworn in on Monday,

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" on Sunday on being elected as the new leader of Nepal and said he looks forward to working with him to further strengthen the friendship between the two countries. CPN-Maoist Centre chairman Prachanda was appointed Nepal's new prime minister after the former guerrilla leader dramatically broke away from the five-party ruling alliance led by the Nepali Congress, ending the political uncertainty after last month's general elections failed to produce a clear winner.