Nepal's newly elected PM takes oath

Newly elected Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, (L) greets outgoing Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli (R) upon their arrival during the administers of oath of office to the newly-elected Prime Minister at the presidential building "Shital Niwas" in Kathmandu, Nepal August 4, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

KATHMANDU - Nepal's newly elected Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, has taken oath of office and secrecy from President Bidya Devi Bhandari, on Thursday.

Amid a function held at the President's Office Sheetalnibas in the capital, President Bhandari administered oath of office and secrecy to Dahal, who was elected as the 39th prime minister of the country on Tuesday through voting at the Parliament.

On the same occasion, President Bhandari also administered oath of office and secrecy to Deputy Prime Ministers Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Bimalendra Nidhi, who are key leaders of the CPN (Maoist Center) and Nepali Congress, respectively.

Mahara and Nidhi are likely to be appointed as the finance and home ministers respectively in the Dahal-led Cabinet, reports said.

The president also administered oath of office and secrecy to newly inducted ministers Daljit Sripali, Gaurishnaker Chaudhari and Ramesh Lekhak.

Ministers Sripali and Chaudhari belong to CPN (Maoist Centre) while Lekhak is a leader of the Nepali Congress party.

However, the CPN (Maoist Center) and Nepali Congress, who will run the coalition government for nine months as per their political understanding, have yet to finalize the portfolios of the ministers to be included in the new government.

Prime Minister Dahal will expand his cabinet after holding final consultation with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba possibly on Friday, according to officials.

Dahal replaced K.P Sharma Oli on Wednesday, who stepped down from the post of prime minister on July 24 to avoid a no-confidence vote.

Dahal won majority votes to become the head of the government in the prime ministerial election as he was backed by the largest party in the Parliament, Nepali Congress, Madhes-based parties and some other fringe parties.

Dahal, chairman of the CPN (Maoist Center), third largest party in the Nepalese Parliament, secured 363 votes when 573 parliamentarians cast ballots to become the prime minister while 210 parliamentarians voted against him.

Dahal was the sole candidate in the prime ministerial election as no other candidates emerged to vie against him.

However, the CPN (UML), second largest party in the Parliament and fourth largest party Rashtriya Prajatantra Party Nepal (RPPN) voted against Dahal.

This is the second time Dahal became the prime minister since his Maoist party joined the mainstream politics in 2007 after signing the peace deal with the then government ending the 10-year armed conflict that started in 1996.

The 61-year-old Dahal has become the first communist leader of Nepal who is now getting opportunity to serve as country's primer minister twice in Nepal's history.