Pro-China Oli named Nepal Prime Minister

Kathmandu, February 14

The CPN-UML today picked party chairman KP Sharma Oli as the next Prime Minister of Nepal, a senior leader of the party said, over two months after the successful conclusion of historic parliamentary polls. Oli, 65, served as the Prime Minister from October 11, 2015, to August 3, 2016. He is known for his pro-China stance.

A standing committee of the party in Lalitpur named Oli as the PM candidate as he is also the UML’s parliamentary party leader.

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The Left Alliance of the CPN-UML, led by Oli, and CPN-Maoist Centre, led by Prachanda, had in December secured 174 seats in the 275-member Parliament in the historic provincial and parliamentary polls that many hope will bring much-needed political stability to the Himalayan nation.

It had also secured an overwhelming majority in the Upper House with 39 seats, paving the way for the Leftist Alliance to form the country’s next government.

The UML leaders also discussed unification with CPN (Maoist Centre). The Party Unification Coordination Committee (PUCC) formed to discuss the merger was also scheduled to meet. —PTI