CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli has been elected the new prime minister of the country, securing a clear majority of votes in parliament, Sunday. Oli, 63, is scheduled to take the oath of office as prime minister on Monday afternoon. He becomes 38th prime minister of Nepal.

Oli defeatd Nepali Congress (NC) President Sushil Koirala, who is also the outgoing prime minister, by 89 votes, in the election held at a House meeting. Chief of the second largest political party in parliament, Oli secured 338 votes while Koirala succeeded in getting only 249 votes, from the 587 lawmakers participating in the voting. Nine lawmakers were absent during the meeting, including four from NC and one from UML. Speaker Subas Nembang did not vote.

Oli’s contender Koirala was supported by the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) and a few other fringe parties. The UDMF, which comprises four Madhes-based parties, has 35 seats in parliamet. Eight political parties with single parliamentary seats and two independent lawmakers voted for Koirala.

With Koirala defeated by Oli, the alliance between NC and UML, which had been formed after the second Constituent Assembly (CA) election, has been discontinued and the largest political party in parliament, the NC, has become the major opposition party.

Oli has been backed by 14 other political parties in parliament, including the third and forth largest parties UCPN (Maoist) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal (RPP-N) respectively and various fringe parties. Bijay Gachchhedar-led Madhesi People’s Rights Forum Democratic (MPRF-D) also voted for Oli, after taking a decision to do so only during the last hour before the parliamentary meeting Sunday. Rastriya Prajatantra Party, CPN-ML, Nepal Workers Peasants Party, Rastriya Janamorcha and CPN (Unified) are other notable parties supporting Oli.