GIRIJA PRASAD KOIRALA

'Girija Prasad Koirala' (born 1925) is the incumbent Prime Minister of Nepal. He has been elected Prime Minister of Nepal six times, from 1991 to 1994, 1998 to 1999, 2000 to 2001, and from 2006 and 2007. He was the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Nepal since 1959, when his brother BP Koirala and the Nepali Congress party swept the country's first democratic elections. He is also the President of the Nepali Congress Party and leader of the Eight Party Alliance (EPA). Koirala has been active in politics for over sixty years and started his career as a labor leader in the Jute mills of his hometown Biratnagar.

Contents

Early life and family

Political career

First Term (26 May 1991 - 30 November 1994)

Second Term (15 April 1998 - 31 May 1999)

Third Term (22 March 2000 - 26 July 2001)

Fourth Term (30 April 2006 - present)

Early life and family

Girija Prasad Koirala was born in Tadi, Saharsha district, in Bihar, India in 1925 [1] when his family was in exile. He is the youngest son of Krishna Prasad Koirala and Divya Koirala. Two of his older brothers, BP Koirala and MP Koirala, also became Prime Ministers of Nepal in the years that followed the family's return to Nepal in 1929. He married Sushma Koirala and has a daughter Sujata Koirala. He studied at Kirori Mal College of Delhi University.

Political career

In 1948 Koirala founded the Nepal Mazdoor Congress, later known as the Nepal Trade Union Congress. Later, in 1952 he became the President of the Morang district Nepali Congress and held that office until he was arrested and imprisoned by King Mahendra following the 1960 royal coup. Upon his release in 1967, Girija Prasad Koirala, along with other leaders and workers of the party, was exiled in India until his return to Nepal in 1979. Koirala was General Secretary of the Nepali Congress Party from 1975 to 1991.[2] Koirala was actively involved in the 1990 Jana Andolan which led to the abrogation of the Panchayat rule and the introduction of a multi-party politics in the country.

First Term (26 May 1991 - 30 November 1994)

He was elected Member of Parliament in 1991 in Nepal's first multi-party democratic elections following the Jana Aandolan from the Morang-1 and Sunsari-5 constituencies. The Nepali Congress won 110 of the 205 seats in the Pratinidhi Sabha, the lower house of parliament. He was subsequently elected the leader of the Nepali Congress parliamentary party and appointed Prime Minister by King Birendra.
During his first term, the house of representatives inacted legislations to liberalize education, media and health sectors in the country. The government also founded the Purwanchal University and the BP Koirala Institute of Health and Sciences (BPKIHS) in the Eastern Development region and granted licenses to private sector to run medical and engineering colleges in various parts of the country. The government also undertook the construction of the BP Memorial Cancer hospital in Bharatpur with assistance from the government of China.
In November 1994 he called for a dissolution of parliament and general elections after a procedural defeat on the floor of the House when 36 Members of Parliament (MPs) of his party went against a government sponsored vote of confidence. This led to the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist)-led coalition coming to power in the elections that followed.

Second Term (15 April 1998 - 31 May 1999)

Koirala took over as Prime Minister from Surya Bahadur Thapa following the collapse of the coalition government led by Thapa. Koirala first headed a Nepali Congress minority government until December 25, 1998 after which he headed a three-party coalition government with the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) and the Nepal Sadhbhawana Party.

Third Term (22 March 2000 - 26 July 2001)

Koirala became Prime Minister in 2000 for his third term following the resignation of Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, under whose leadership party had won the Parliamentary Election. Nepali Congress Party had won the election claiming Krishna Prasad Bhattarai would be the Prime Minister, however Girija Prasad Bhattarai led a group of dissident MPs and forced Krishna Prasad Bhattarai to resign or face a no confidence motion. At that time Nepal was fighting a civil war against the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). During his third term as Prime Minister, his government was plagued by allegations of corruption. Following the massacre in the Royal Palace, Koirala was further criticized for his perceived inability to handle the crisis. Koirala resigned in July 2001 following which the military was mobilized in the civil war for the first time, something Koirala had unsuccessfully attempted to do while in office. He was replaced by former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who was elected by majority of members of Nepali Congress.

Fourth Term (30 April 2006 - present)

After the reinstatement of the Nepal House of Representatives, 'Pratinidhi Sabha' on April 24, 2006 following the Loktantra Andolan, Koirala was selected to become Prime Minister by the leaders of the Seven Party Alliance.
The reinstated house of representatives passed laws to strip the King of his powers and bring the Army under civilian control.
Following the promulgation of the interim constitution, Koirala, as the Prime Minister, has been the interim head of state of Nepal.
On 1 April 2007, Koirala was re-elected as Prime Minister to head a new government comprised of the SPA and the CPN (Maoists).