Khanal elected as new PM of Nepal

Ending a seven month-long political deadlock, Nepal on Thursday elected veteran communist leader, Jhalanath Khanal as the country’s new prime minister.

Updated on: Feb 4, 2011, 01:45:13 IST

Hindustan Times | By Utpal Parashar, Kathmandu

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Ending a seven month-long political deadlock, Nepal on Thursday elected veteran communist leader, Jhalanath Khanal as the country’s new prime minister.

The breakthrough came after opposition Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) withdrew its chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal from the race and decided to vote for Khanal.

The surprise move, opposed by the Baburam Bhattarai faction of UCPN-M, tilted the balance in Khanal’s favour.

He secured 368 votes while Nepali Congress’s Ram Chandra Poudel got 122 votes. Deputy PM Bijay Kumar Gachchadar of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (Loktantrik) came third with 67 votes.

Khanal, who is chairman of Communist Party of Nepal -Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), becomes the 34th Prime Minister of Nepal and will replace caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal from his party.

The 60-year-old from Sakhejung in Ilam district of eastern Nepal now faces the tough task of completing the peace process and drafting the new constitution within the May 28 deadline.

“No party can achieve both these alone. Hence, we are stressing on completing them through consensus,” Khanal said.

While the exact nature of agreement between Dahal and Khanal is not yet clear, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML’s partner in the previous ruling coalition, has raised doubts about it.

“Coalitions formed through dramatic means don’t reflect true consensus,” said Poudel in his address terming the Maoist-CPN-UML alliance as “hypocrisy” for the sake of power.

In his address, Dahal said that despite being the biggest party in the parliament he decided to step down in order to break the government formation.

Nepal had been without an effective government since July last year and 16 rounds of voting in parliament to elect a new prime minister had failed to end the deadlock.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Utpal Parashar
A seasoned senior journalist, I have nearly three decades of experience across print, digital, and online platforms, covering political transitions, insurgencies, environmental issues, and development stories in India and Nepal. I am skilled in breaking news, leading editorial teams and launch of newspaper editions. I am adept at leveraging digital trends and social media to expand global reach, with a strong ethical foundation and a reputation for impactful journalism. An alumnus of Asian College of Journalism, I joined Hindustan Times in New Delhi as a trainee reporter in May 1997. Over the years, I have been posted in Dehradun, Kathmandu (Nepal) and Guwahati. Currently, as Senior Assistant Editor at Hindustan Times, I lead a team reporting on India’s northeastern states. My work involves in-depth analysis, and engaging multimedia storytelling across formats, including text, photo, video, and interactive content. I am skilled in producing timely, shareable content, leveraging digital platforms and social media to engage global audiences. Throughout my career with the Hindustan Times, I have led diverse editorial teams, designed capacity-building activities, and supported reporters in developing strong story ideas, ethical reporting practices, digital skills, and fact-checking techniques. As Senior Assistant Editor for Northeast India, I have been responsible for guiding correspondents through complex political, humanitarian, and community-level stories using multimedia formats. Earlier, as Foreign Correspondent in Nepal, I produced extensive reporting during Nepal’s democratic transition and the 2015 earthquake and its aftermath.Read More

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