‘Prachanda’ takes oath as Nepal’s new PM

Kathmandu, Dec 27:Pushpa Kamal Dahal ”Prachanda” was on Monday sworn-in as the Prime Minister of Nepal for a third time, a day after the former guerrilla leader dramatically walked out of the pre-poll alliance led by the Nepali Congress and joined hands with opposition leader K P Sharma Oli.The 68-year-old CPN-Maoist Centre chairman was appointed as the country’s new prime minister on Sunday after he submitted a letter to President Bidya Devi Bhandari showing the support of 169 members in the 275-member House of Representatives.Prachanda took the oath of office and secrecy from President Bhandari at an official ceremony at Shital Niwas on Monday.President Bhandari also administered the oath to other cabinet members of the new coalition government. The new cabinet has three deputy prime ministers – Bishnu Paudel from Oli’s CPN-UML, Narayan Kaji Shrestha from CPN-Maoist Centre and Rabi Lamichhane from Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).Paudel has been assigned Finance ministry while Shrestha got Physical Infrastructure and Transport and Lamichhane home ministry.Jwala Kumari Sah, Damodar Bhandari and Rajendra Kumar Rai – all three from Oli’s CPN-UML – have been made ministers. Janamat Party’s Abdul Khan was also appointed as a minister.Despite getting appointed prime minister with an overwhelming majority, Prachanda will now have to win a vote of trust from the lower house within 30 days.If he fails to win the confidence of the House, then a new process for government formation will begin.The surprise development of Prachanda becoming the new premier may not bode well for India-Nepal ties as he and his main backer and former premier Oli have had some run-ins with New Delhi previously over territorial issues.Oli on Sunday outfoxed his bete noire and ex-prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, a veteran of manoeuvring hung parliaments to his advantage.Deuba congratulated Prachanda over the phone during the Maoist office meeting held on Monday morning. He was also present at the oath ceremony.Prachanda, who is seen as pro-China, has in the past said a new understanding with India needed to be developed on the basis of a ”changed scenario” in Nepal and after addressing all outstanding issues, like revision of the 1950 Friendship Treaty and resolving Kalapani and Susta border disputes.The India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950 forms the bedrock of the special relations between the two countries.In recent years, Prachanda, however, has said India and Nepal need to address diplomatically some of the issues “left by history” to realise the full potential of the bilateral cooperation.His main backer Oli is also known for his pro-China stance. As the prime minister, Oli last year claimed that efforts were being made to oust him after his government redrew Nepal’s political map by incorporating three strategically key Indian territories, a move that strained ties between the two countries.