Nepal Prime Minister Deuba elected leader of Nepali Congress parliamentary party

Nepal Prime Minister and the Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba won the parliamentary party (PP) leader election held on Wednesday, overpowering his nearest challenger, party General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa by 39 votes, officials said.

Deuba, 76, secured 64 votes, while Thapa, 45, could muster only 25 votes, they said.

All 89 lawmakers of the party participated in the voting.


The win means that Deuba, 76, will possibly lead the next government after the Nepali Congress emerged as the single-largest party in the general elections held on November 20.

The party has won 89 seats -- 57 in the first past the post-election system and 32 in the proportional representation election system -- in the House of Representatives in the recently-concluded general elections.

Meanwhile, the oath-taking ceremony of newly elected members of the House of Representatives (HoR) in the general election will be held on December 22, sources in the parliamentary secretariat said.

In the 275-member House of Representatives, 165 were elected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 were elected through the proportional electoral system.

Elections to the HoR and seven provincial assemblies were held to end the prolonged political instability that has plagued the Himalayan nation.