Maoist chairman Prachanda elected as first republican PM of Nepal

Kathmandu, August 15 : Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has been elected as the first Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal today.

Following the election at the Constituent Assembly in New Baneshwor, the Constituent Assembly Chairman Subash Chandra Nemwang announced Dahal's victory after 438 votes were cast against his rival Nepali Congress candidate and former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Out of the 551 Constituent Assembly members who took part in today's voting, 464 voted in Dahal's favour

Nepali Congress (NC) candidate for the Prime Minister's post Deuba was quickly dumped out from the race with only 113 votes.

According to Kantipur, the former Maoist rebels, who re-joined mainstream politics in 2006, were slated to win the post from the start.

Before the votes were cast, all factors had already indicated that Maoist Chairman 'Prachanda', whose party emerged as the single largest party in the Constituent Assembly (CA) after the April 10 elections, would win the race for the premiership and become the new Prime Minister.

A majority of the political parties had said they would support the Maoist chairman's bid for the premiership at today's legislative session of the Constituent Assembly (CA), at the International Convention Centre in Kathmandu.

Virtually all parties among the total 25 elected to the Constituent Assembly announced their support for Prachanda, while People's Front Nepal (PFN) and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) boycotted the election.

The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) and the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) voted for the Maoist chairman, as per the agreement reached between the three parties on Thursday.

UML general secretary Jhalanath Khanal had floated a proposal recommending Maoist chairman Prachanda as the Prime Minister for the next government, while MPRF chairman Upendra Yadav also turned his support to Prachanda.

Likewise, Maoist senior-in-command Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai, on behalf of the party, announced the party's support for chairman Prachanda.

In the build-up to the vote casting period, Sarita Giri of Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NSP-A), Narayan Kaji Shrestha of CPN-Masal, Chandra Dev Joshi of CPN-United, Malwar Singh Thapa of Rastriya Janamukti Party, Buddha Ratna Manandhar of Nepa: Rastriya Party, Gayatri Shah of Nepal Janata Dal and Nepal Pariwar Dal supported UML chief Khanal's proposal before Constituent Assembly chairman Nemwang.

Likewise, formerly hardcore pro-monarch party Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal also supported the CPN-Maoists, which had strongly voiced for the abolition of the monarchy.

ANI