Nepali PM finalises cabinet
Nepal's new Maoist prime minister Sunday finalised the Himalayan nation's first post-royal government by appointing 15 new ministers, ending weeks of political deadlock, officials said.
Prachanda, who was sworn in as premier earlier this month, named six ministers from his Maoist party, six from the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) and one each from three fringe parties, Suresh Adhikari, an official at the President's Office told AFP.
"The total number of cabinet members have now reached 24," Adhikari said.
Prachanda led the oath-taking, in which the new appointees pledged "to remain faithful to the nation and my countrymen."
The swearing in of Prachanda -- whose nom-de-guerre means "the fierce one" -- completed his transformation from warlord to the country's most powerful politician.
The ultra-leftists, UML and other small political outfits have formed an alliance and agreed on the distribution of cabinet posts.
The appointments had taken so long to make due to wrangling between the main ruling parties over the post of deputy prime minister.
The formation of the government follows the Himalayan country's abolition of its unpopular 240-year-old monarchy three months ago after the Maoists won just over a third of the seats in the new constitutional assembly.
The Maoists -- who waged a deadly decade-long insurgency until a 2006 peace deal -- emerged as Nepal's most potent political force after convincingly winning landmark polls in April.
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