Sher Bahadur Deuba, the head of the centrist Nepali Congress party, won election as the Himalayan nation’s new prime minister on Tuesday, days after his Maoist predecessor quit under a power sharing deal.
Deuba has previously served three times as prime minister, in 1995-1997, 2001-2002 and 2004-2005. Nepal’s last monarch King Gyanendra called him incompetent and fired him in 2002 for failing to contain a Maoist insurgency and hold elections.
He was later reinstated only to be sacked again in 2005, triggering political unrest that toppled the 239-year-old monarchy three years later.
Parliament Speaker Onsari Gharti said the 70-year-old Deuba won 388 votes of the 558 cast in the 593-member parliament to head the country’s 10th government in as many years.
Deuba’s immediate task is to complete the two-phase local elections on June 28, a precondition for holding a national election by the end of the year. The first phase of local polls, in which less than half the country voted, was in mid-May.
Deuba was supported by the Maoist Centre party of his former foe and predecessor Prachanda, and other smaller groups. The two leaders have struck an unlikely power-sharing deal which is expected to hold until the national elections.
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
