Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli (pictured above), the leader of the the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), on Thursday was sworn in as the 41st Prime Minister of Nepal. His swearing in follows the resignation of Sher Bahadur Deuba from the post earlier in the day.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari administered the oath of office to Oli at a special function organised at the presidential residence, The Kathmandu Post reported. The others inducted into the Cabinet were Lal Babu Pandit, the Minister for Population and Environment, and Tham Maya Thapa, the Minister for Women and Children Welfare, The Himalayan Times reported.

Deuba submitted his resignation in the morning after the country’s election commission submitted the final results of the federal and provincial Assembly elections, which were held in December 2017, to the president. The Nepali Congress, Deuba’s party, had finished third in the race. The CPN(UML) was the largest party in the elections of December 2017. No single party had received a majority in the election results, but the Left coalition of former Maoist rebels and the CPN(UML) together had 174 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives.

“The elections to three tiers of government – 753 local bodies, seven provincial assemblies and a federal parliament – have been successfully held under my leadership setting the foundation to long transition,” Deuba said in a televised address to the nation.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), with whose help Deuba had become the prime minister in June 2017, is considering a merger with the CPN(UML), The Kathmandu Post reported.