Prachanda takes oath of office, forms 8 member cabinet

President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered the oath of Office and Secrecy to 68 year old Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ who was appointed as Prime Minister of Nepal as per Article 76(2) of the constitution on Monday.

At the sworn-in ceremony vice president Nanda Bahadur Pun, former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, KP Sharma Oli, Madhav Kumar Nepal, and Dr Baburam Bhattarai among other dignitaries were present.

The Prime Minister formed an eight member cabinet, which includes three deputy Prime Ministers and four cabinet ministers. Following Prachanda’s swearing in ceremony three deputy Prime Ministers and four ministers also took oath of office and secrecy at the President’s Office.

Bishnu Poudyal (CPN-UML) has been appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, while Ravi Lamichhane (Rastriya Swotantra Party) has been appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs. Similarly, Narayan Kaji Shrestha (CPN-Maoist Centre) has been appointed as Deputy PM and Minister for Physical Infrastructure.

Likewise, Damodar Bhandari, Jwala Kumari Sah, Rajendra Rai, and Abdul Khan took an oath to office and secrecy as ministers without portfolios. Among them three ministers (Bhandari, Sah and Rai) are from CPN-UML and Abdul Khan is from Janamat Party.