Nepal's newly-elected prime minister Jhalanath Khanal was sworn in at a ceremony in Kathmandu on Sunday, ending a seven-month leadership vacuum in the troubled Himalayan nation. Khanal, chairman of the UML (Unified Marxist Leninist) party, took his oath of office in front of President Ram Baran Yadav.
"I will remain committed and honest to the nation and its people to fulfil my duty," he said. Khanal on Thursday secured the last-minute backing of the Maoists, the largest force in parliament, to finally break a deadlock in the legislature that left the country without a government as 16 previous rounds of voting failed to produce a winner.
His predecessor, party colleague Madhav Kumar Nepal, led a coalition government backed by the centrist Nepali Congress but his government fell last June under intense pressure from the Maoists. Khanal, 60, is being supported by the Maoists, whose leaders are likely to hold major ministries, while the country's second-largest party, the Nepali Congress, has said it will remain in opposition.
Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Prachanda, or "the fierce one", said he had decided to back Khanal to end the political stand-off. The integration and rehabilitation of 19,000 Maoist combatants who fought a decade-long insurrection against state security forces is one of Khanal's main challenges. The conflict ended in 2006 and led to the abolition of a centuries-old Hindu monarchy, ushering in a period of transition to democracy.
A new constitution, intended to reshape the country after the downfall of the monarchy, is slated to be completed by May but disagreements between the parties have raised fears of missing the deadline.
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