Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala has been elected as the 37th prime minister of the country today. He is the fifth prime minister after the country became a republic in 2008.
He secured 405 votes, and some 148 voted against him to be elected as prime minister today after 83 days of the second Constituent Assembly (CA) election.
He was the sole contestant in the premier race.
Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and other parties voted for Koirala, whereas UCPN-Maoist and Madhesh parties voted against him as prime minister.
The election of democratic leader for the top job is expected to expedited halted economic development in the country.
Koirala, a bachelor known for his commitment to democracy, integrity and simple life-style, lives in a rented house in Kathmandu. Inspired by Nepali Congress legendary leader and political ideologue late BP Koirala, he has been associated with the Nepali Congress since 1955.
Born to Bodh Prasad Koirala and Kumudini Devi Koirala in Morang district on August 12, 1939, Koirala joined the democratic movement against the Rana regime when he was merely 14 and spent more than six years in jail in Nepali and India.
His dream to become an actor in Hollywood shattered when the movement against the anarchist regime intensified.
A die hard socialist, Koirala lived in India from 1960 to 1980, and was involved with the socialist movement led by Indian prominent leaders Jaya Prakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohiya, Ashok Mehta and Madhu Dandvate.
He was arrested in India after a three-member NC team hijacked a plane in 1973 to fund the anti-Panchayat movement. He returned to Nepal, along with Girija Prasad Koirala, in 1980 after getting amnesty.
He became party’s central committee member on November 28, 1988, and general secretary in the ninth general convention in 1996. He assumed the post of Nepali Congress vice-president in 1998 and elected president in 2010.
He, after being elected to the top executive of the country reiterated his promise to deliver a new statue within a year.