Sher Bahadur Deuba elected Nepal’s prime minister ... for the fourth time
Nepal’s revolving door politics has seen the three largest parties cycle through the premiership since 2006
Nepal’s parliament on Tuesday elected an unopposed three-time former prime minister to the top post once again, the tenth time in just over a decade the leadership has changed hands in the Himalayan nation.
Sher Bahadur Deuba, a wily political veteran, stood unopposed in the parliamentary election having struck a deal with his predecessor that some criticised as being undemocratic.
Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal - who resigned a fortnight ago after just ten months as prime minister - had agreed to stand aside for Deuba once long-awaited local polls had been held in Nepal.
“I announce that respected member Sher Bahadur Deuba... has been elected to the post of Nepal’s prime minister,” said Parliament Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar, addressing parliament during a live television broadcast.
Deuba’s centre-right Nepali Congress struck an uneasy alliance with the Maoists last August on the condition Dahal would hand over power once local elections had been held.
The first phase of those polls - the first held in 20 years - were staged last month in three of Nepal’s seven districts. The second round of voting has been delayed twice, but did not impede Deuba’s appointment.
