Chief Justice Khilraj Regmi is Nepal's new PM

Kathmandu : The chief judge of Nepal’s Supreme Court was sworn in Thursday to lead a new interim government charged with holding elections in three months, ending an impasse since the last Parliament’s term expired almost a year ago. After Supreme Court Chief Justice Khilraj Regmi was sworn in by President Ram Baran Yadav, he named Madhav Ghimire as the Home Minister and Hari Prasad Neupane as Law Minister. Both Ghimire and Neupane are former bureaucrats and took the oath of office with Regmi. 

The agreement signed late Wednesday night among leaders of the four main political parties says Regmi will have an 11—member Cabinet and the interim government would hold elections by June 21. The vote would choose a new Constituent Assembly to write a constitution and double as the country’s parliament. The assembly elected in May 2008 expired last year after failing to complete the charter because of political disagreements. 

The feuding parties agreed to appoint Mr. Regmi after failing to agree on a choice among their politicians. Since the last assembly tenure ended in May 2012, Baburam Bhattarai, of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), has remained the head of caretaker administration.