Koirala sworn in as Nepal PM, wrangle with coalition partner

Sushil Koirala, a veteran Nepali Congress leader, was today sworn in as Nepal's Prime Minister amid reports of differences with the coalition partner CPN-UML over distribution of key portfolios like the Home Ministry.
Immediately after being sworn in by President Ram Baran Yadav at Rastrapati Bhawan, Koirala, 74, appointed party colleague Ramsharan Mahat as minister without portfolio in his cabinet.
No legislator from the CPN-UML (Unified Marxist-Leninist) party was inducted in the cabinet. "The cabinet could not take full shape today as there were some differences over the issue of power sharing between the main coalition partners Nepali Congress and CPN-UML," according to party sources.

The sources said that the differences occurred after both Nepali Congress and Jhalanath Khanal-led CPN-UML claimed important portfolio of the Home Ministry.
The differences will be sorted out soon, after holding a dialogue with the CPN-UML leaders, a senior leader of the Nepali Congress said.
Koirala, president of Nepal's biggest political party, was elected as Prime Minister yesterday with 405 votes in favour in the 601-member Constituent Assembly, ending months of political crisis in the country.

Later today, Koirala went to his new office at Singha Durbar and met senior officials.
Koirala said that his priorities are peace, stability, democracy and development. He said he would make every effort to promulgate a new statute within a year.

"The new constitution may be issued earlier also," Koirala said.
Meanwhile, the chairman of Nepal's interim government Khil Raj Regmi today resigned as chief justice after his spell as head of state ended with the election Koirala as Prime Minister.