Sushil Koirala elected new Nepal PM

Koirala, who became the country's sixth Prime Minister since monarchy was abolished in May 2008, went to India in 1960 after the then king suspended democracy and jailed dozens, including his relatives. He stayed there for 16 years in self-exile.

Koirala, in his address to the Legislative Parliament, expressed commitment to promulgate the new constitution within a year. He also called for consensus, collaboration and cooperation among all political parties to draft the Constitution.

“We also expect assistance from our neighbours India and China as well as other friends to complete our responsibilities,” he said.

Koirala is scheduled to be sworn in by the president later today. He is also expected to announce a small cabinet and continue negotiations with other political parties to join his coalition government.

No party could secure a majority in last year's Constituent Assembly polls. The standing committee of the CPN-UML - the second largest party which has 173 lawmakers - backed Koirala for the top post after the party reached a six-point deal with the NC, which has 194 lawmakers. 

The two largest parties in the Constituent Assembly inked the deal yesterday after several rounds of negotiations on the issue of power sharing.

Under the six-point agreement, they agreed to promulgate the new constitution within a year and to hold elections for the posts of president, vice president and chairman of the Constituent Assembly after it approves the new constitution.