KATHMANDU: Nepal's Supreme Court Chief Justice Khilraj Regmi was sworn in as head of government on Thursday after political parties finally inked a deal to end a 10-month deadlock.
The leaders of four major parties reached a deal late Wednesday to appoint Regmi as head of an interim administration which should oversee what would be only the second national polls since Maoist rebels overthrew the monarchy.
The election in theory should be held by June 21 but analysts remain sceptical the vote will go ahead within the scheduled timeframe, despite the apparent breakthrough.
The swearing-in ceremony for the 64-year-old Regmi was broadcast live Thursday morning on Nepal television.
"In the name of God, I take this oath as per the interim constitution that I will remain committed and honest to the nation and the sovereign people," he said.
Nepalese politics has operated in a legislative vacuum since May last year when the parliament, which had doubled as a constitution drafting body, dissolved without producing the charter.
Political infighting, which included a split in the ruling Maoist party last year, confounded efforts to implement a post-conflict peace plan meant to rebuild the country after a 10-year civil war ended in 2006.
Under the terms of the cross-party agreement, Regmi will return to his post as chief justice after the elections. His deputy at the supreme court will take over his judicial responsibilities until then.
While all parties say they want the elections to take place in June, there is already talk that they could be put back until later in the year.
"If things get out of control, we will defer the elections until November," Ram Chandra Paudel, a leader of the main opposition Nepali Congress, told reporters after the deal.
Sudheer Sharma, editor in chief of Nepal's Kantipur newspaper, told AFP that it was overly optimistic to expect the polls to take place in June.
"This has paved the way for holding the elections, so in that sense it's a breakthrough," he said.
"But there has been very vocal opposition against a government headed by the chief justice, and I don't think this government will be able to conduct polls by June."
A challenge to the legality of Regmi's appointment is scheduled to begin before a special bench in the supreme court on Thursday.
Some of the strongest opposition to the agreement has come from a breakaway Maoist faction, some of whose supporters were involved in small-scale clashes with the police in Kathmandu on Thursday.
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