December 25: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has appointed CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal as the new prime minister.    
Dahal was appointed the PM as per Article 76 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal, the President stated in a press release issued on Sunday evening.    
This is the third time Chairman Dahal has become the prime minister of Nepal.    
The Article 76 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal states “in cases where no party has a clear majority in the House of Representatives, the president shall appoint as the prime minister a member of the House of Representatives who can command majority with the support of two or more parties in the House of Representatives.”    
CPN (UML), CPN (Maoist Centre), Rastriya Swatantra Party Nepal, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janamat Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party and Janata Samajwadi Party, and three independent Members of Parliament (MPs) have supported Dahal’s premiership.    
The newly-appointed prime minister would be sworn in on Monday.    
Earlier, the president had given a weeklong time for the political parties to form a new government after the results of the November 20 election was unveiled by the Election Commission. The deadline given by the president expired at 5:00 pm Sunday. -- RSS