THE leader of Nepal’s largest communist party was inaugurated as prime minister at a ceremony in Kathmandu yesterday. 

Khadga Prasad Oli, who heads the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), was named for the post on Sunday, following the collapse of a previous coalition government.

The new government is a coalition of Mr Oli’s party with the Nepali Congress. The two parties are the largest in Nepal. 

Two deputy prime ministers and 19 ministers appointed by him also took the oath of office. 

The last government, headed by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, collapsed on Friday after Mr Oli’s party pulled out of the coalition to join the new partnership.

The new prime minister will have to seek a parliamentary vote of confidence within a month to continue in office, but that is not expected to pose a problem, since the two parties in the new alliance have enough votes between them.

One of biggest challenges facing Mr Oli, who has been prime minister three times before, will be balancing Nepal’s relationship with its giant neighbours India and China.

He worked his way up through the ranks of his party and, before the monarchy was abolished, spent a total of 14 years in jail for opposing autocratic rule.