Madhav Kumar elected New PM of Nepal

Communist leader Madhav Kumar Nepal was on Saturday elected unopposed as the Prime Minister of Nepal, bringing to an end the nearly three-week long political crisis in the country. The 56-year-old CPN-UML leader, who claims to have the support of 351 lawmakers in the 601-member Constituent Assembly, was the only candidate to have filed the nomination for the top post. The Maoists boycotted the voting process and said they will not join the new government.

Caretaker premier and Maoist supremo Prachanda and Maoist number two leader Baburam Bhattarai were absent during the parliament session today. Nepal will replace Prachanda who had resigned as premier on 4th May in the wake of differences with President Ram Baran Yadav on the issue of sacking of the army chief. Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala proposed 56-year-old Nepal's name for the post and CPN-UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal seconded it along with representatives from 22 different parties including key Madhesi group MPRF.