Madhav Kumar Nepal, senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN- UML) was sworn in as the second elected prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal on Monday.
Nepali President Ram Baran Yadav administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly elected Prime Minister at Shital Niwas, the Nepali president's official residence in Kathmandu, at around 11:05 local time (0520 GMT).
M.K. Nepal was elected new prime minister of Nepal on Saturday by the majority of Constituent Assembly (CA) Members.
Leaders of most of the political parties, Vice President, chiefs of constitutional bodies including Chief Justice, CA Chairman, former prime ministers, diplomats, top bureaucrats and some parliamentarians attended the ceremony.
Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) UCPN-M, the single largest CA party also joined the ceremony though they had boycotted the prime minister's election process on Saturday.
Former communication minister and the senior leader of UCPN-M Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Deputy chief in the House, Narayan Kaji Shrestha (also known as "Prakash") attended the function.
When asked why they appeared in the ceremony despite their rejection to the election process, UCPN-M spokesperson Dinanath Sharma told Xinhua that boycotting the election process was their political struggle against President Yadav's move whereas participating in the oath taking ceremony is political culture of courteousness.
However, the UCPN-M who led the previous government under the leadership of their party's chairman Prachanda showed their stance not to support the CPN-UML-led government and termed the recently formed government based on "military supremacy" aloft of "civilian supremacy".
Meanwhile, M.K. Nepal has formed a three-member cabinet, inducting CPN-UML leaders Bidhya Bhandari and Surendra Pandey as ministers without portfolio. After being sworn in by the President, the Prime Minister administered the oath to the two ministers.
Bhandari and Pandey took the oath from M.K. Nepal in the presence of President Yadav at the President's Office. They were picked for initial berth in the cabinet after other parties in the alliance the Nepali Congress and Madhesi People's Rights Forum did not provide names.
Bhandari is Vice-Chairperson of the CPN-UML while Pandey is the party's politburo member.
(Xinhua News Agency May 25, 2009)
