KATHMANDU – Nepal’s parliament elected a Maoist leader as prime minister yesterday after weeks of failure by lawmakers to form a national unity government that has threatened a fragile peace process in the nascent Himalayan republic.
The election of Baburam Bhattarai, a senior leader of the former rebels who waged an insurgency against the monarchy, follows two years of turmoil in south Asia’s poorest nation where Asian superpowers China and India jostle for influence. – (Reuters)