The leader of Nepal’s largest communist party, Khadga Prasad Oli, has been named the Himalayan nation’s new prime minister following the collapse of a previous coalition government.
Kathmandu, Nepal — The leader of Nepal’s largest communist party, Khadga Prasad Oli, He was named the Himalayan nation’s new prime minister the following Sunday the collapse of a previous coalition government.
A statement issued by the president’s office said Oli will take the oath of office on Monday.
Oli, a veteran politician and three-time prime minister, will lead a coalition government made up of his Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) and the Nepali Congress Party, Nepal’s two largest parties.
The last government headed by Pushpa Kamal Dahal It collapsed on Friday after Oli’s party, which had been part of the coalition, withdrew its support for joining the new association.
Oli would have to seek a vote of confidence in parliament to continue in office within a month. The two parties in the new alliance have more than half of the parliamentarians needed to demonstrate their majority.
Oli’s biggest challenge as prime minister will be balancing Nepal’s relationship with its giant neighbors India and China, as both seek to exert influence over the tiny nation. Nepal, a landlocked country, is surrounded by India on three sides and imports all of its oil and most of its supplies from India. It also shares a border with China.
Oli, 72, was born in a village in eastern Nepal and has been involved in politics since he was young.
He rose through the ranks of the communist party and was imprisoned for a total of 14 years for opposing the autocratic rule of Nepal’s monarchs. The royals had banned political parties until 1990, when street protests forced then-King Birendra to hold free elections that turned Nepal into a constitutional monarchy, which was formally abolished in 2008.
Oli has made regular trips abroad for kidney treatment and has undergone kidney transplant surgeries.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
