20000320

Koirala expected to be sworn in Nepal PM on Monday

KATHMANDU: Nepal's King Birendra is expected to appoint Girija Prasad Koirala as the Himalayan kingdom's new prime minister on Monday, a party spokesman said on Sunday.

Koirala, 76, was elected leader of the parliamentary wing of the Nepali Congress party on Saturday to replace Krishna Prasad Bhattarai who resigned on Thursday.

Congress party spokesman Narahari Acharya said the party would inform King Birendra on Monday about Koirala's election.

"Koirala would then be sworn in and get down to putting his government together which is likely to be over by Monday or Tuesday," Acharya said.

This is the fourth time that Koirala will be appointed prime minister. He held that post three times before in 1991, 1998, and 1999.

Bhattarai, who became Nepal's prime minister in May 1999, resigned last week following pressure by a majority of his party deputies who accused him of failing to stamp out Maoist violence, tackle corruption, reform the administration, control prices of essential goods and promote development projects.

Nepal has been dogged by political instability since 1990 when parliamentary democracy replaced decades of absolute monarchy. -Reuters