Sher Bahadur Deuba, who once led a shaky coalition government, was on Sunday elected as Nepal`s new Prime Minister by a majority of lawmakers from the ruling Nepali Congress. Deuba received 72 votes in the party`s leadership election to head the ninth government since democracy was restored in this Himalayan nation 11 years ago.
“I will be talking to the opposition parties first where we will decide on a common approach to deal with the Maoist problem. Very soon we will have a dialogue with the Maoist rebels,” Deuba told reporters after being declared the winner. Deuba defeated his only opponent 63-year-old Sushil Koirala, nephew of Girija Prasad Koirala, who resigned on Thursday as Prime Minister after leading Nepal for most of the last 11 years since the country`s absolute monarchy ended in a popular revolt.
Election official Basu risal said Koirala trailed with 40 votes while one vote was declared invalid.
This would be Deuba`s second time to take over the country`s top political job. He had led a shaky coalition government for 18 months between 1995 and 1997 but was ousted in vote of no confidence in Parliament when two of his own lawmakers failed to show up during voting over differences with Deuba. Deuba, 55, is known as a flexible leader who is accommodating toward the opposition parties. During his tenure he managed to cling on to power by putting together an unwieldily coalition government.
Last year, Deuba had persuaded the Maoist rebels to come forward for peace talks with the government. He met with the rebels and managed to get offers for peace talks from the rebels but said the government failed to respond. It was the first time such an offer had been made since the rebels demanding a Communist republic began their violent campaign in 1996. Bureau Report