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Nepal inaugurates communist prime minister

Published: Monday 25 May 2009 12:06 UTC
Last updated: Monday 25 May 2009 15:06 UTC
The moderate communist politician Madhav Kumar Nepal has been sworn in as prime minister of Nepal. He heads a weak coalition of 22 parties, which has the support of 350 of the 601 members of parliament. The inauguration ceremony in Kathmandu was boycotted by the Maoists.

The previous Maoist government fell earlier this month after Maoist prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal was forced to resign when President Ram Baran Yadav reversed his decision to dismiss an army general. One of the conditions for peace after a decade of fighting was that communist rebels would be allowed into Nepal's army. This condition has not been met. The dispute led to street protests in the capital Kathmandu.