KATHMANDU: Sushil Koirala, the leader of the Nepali Congress party, was elected as the country’s prime minister on Monday, a development that will help breaking the deadlock following elections in November last year.
The 75-year-old Koirala won a majority of votes cast in the constituent assembly on Monday after the Unified Marxist-Leninist party agreed to back him.
“Sushil Koirala has secured 405 of 553 votes cast at the election today. Therefore, Koirala has secured a majority of votes of the members of the parliament,” said its speaker Surya Bahadur Thapa.
There has been political deadlock in the country since November elections when no party won a majority seats in the constituent assembly. Koirala’s election as the premier is expected to pave the way for the formation of a new coalition government and breaking months of deadlock.
Koirala will be the sixth head of government since the country became a republic in 2008, following a peace deal with Maoist rebels in 2006.
