Nepal's Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli was sworn in as Prime Minister on Monday, following his communist party's coalition with the centre-left Nepali Congress. Oli, leader of the second-largest party in parliament, the Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), assumes the role for the fourth time.
"I, KP Sharma Oli, in the name of the country and people, pledge that I will be loyal to the constitution... and fulfil my duty as the prime minister," Oli declared as President Ram Chandra Poudel administered the oath of office. Initially elected in 2015, Oli secured a rare majority government in 2018 and was briefly reappointed in 2021 amidst Nepal's frequently unstable parliament.
His predecessor, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, lost a vote of confidence on Friday, just 18 months into his term. Dahal, formerly a Maoist guerrilla leader known as Prachanda ("The Fierce One"), was compelled to resign after Oli's party withdrew support. Instead, Oli formed an alliance with Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress, promising to cede the position to Deuba, a former five-time prime minister, later in the parliamentary term.
Nepal transitioned to a federal republic in 2008, following a decade-long civil war and a peace agreement that integrated Maoists into government and abolished the monarchy. Since then, a series of aging prime ministers and a practice of political bargaining have led to public perceptions that the government is disconnected from Nepal's urgent issues.
