KP Sharma Oli replaced Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda as the Prime Minister of Nepal after losing a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives of Nepal.

Pro-China leader KP Sharma Oli was appointed as Nepal's prime minister after the Nepali Congress, the largest party in parliament, backed the CPN-UML chief on Sunday. According to an official statement, 72-year-old Oli will take oath as the country's prime minister for the fourth time on Monday.

The veteran leader was elected after Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, who lost a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives on Friday, setting up the process for a new government under Article 76 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal.

According to an official notification, President Ramchandra Paudel appointed Oli as the new Prime Minister under Article 76-2 of the Constitution of Nepal. The oath-taking ceremony will be held at 11 am on Monday at Shital Niwas, the main building of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, said a notice issued by the President's Office.

On Friday night, Oli claimed to be the next prime minister with the support of NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba and submitted the signatures of 165 members of the House of Representatives (HoR) – 77 from his Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN). -UML) party and 88 of Nepali Congress. (NC).

CPN-Maoist Center Chairman Prachanda lost the vote of confidence in the HoR during the floor test on Friday.

Last week, Deuba and Oli signed a seven-point agreement to form a new coalition government to replace Prachanda. The two leaders agreed that the remaining term of the Parliament would be shared alternately. As per the agreement in the first phase, Oli will be the Prime Minister for 18 months.

Prime Minister Oli will form a small cabinet on Monday, according to his close associates.

Other political parties including Rashtriya Prajatantra Party, Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal, Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Janata Party and Citizen Liberation Party are also likely to join the government.

Oli served as the Prime Minister of Nepal from 11 October 2015 to 3 August 2016 and then from 5 February 2018 to 13 July 2021. He served from 13 May 2021 to 13 July 2021 — due to the appointment of then President Vidya Devi Bhandari, which local media described as a success of Oli's Machiavellian maneuver. Later, the Supreme Court ruled that Oli's claim to the post of Prime Minister was unconstitutional.

(with PTI input)