The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Kathmandu

Nepal swore in its first post-royal government Friday with Maoist leader Prachanda as prime minister, ending weeks of political deadlock.

The Maoists-who waged a decade-long insurgency until a 2006 peace deal-emerged as Nepal's most potent political force after convincingly winning landmark polls in April.

Prachanda led the oath-taking where new ministers pledged "to remain faithful to the nation and my countrymen." The ultra-leftist Maoists, centre-left Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) and another political group formed an alliance and agreed on distribution of ministerial posts.

Politicians from the UML did not swear in after an 11th hour disagreement over who would be deputy prime minister, a Maoist official said.

"We will extend the ministerial cabinet after the prime minister returns from his Beijing visit. Members from the UML will get sworn in then," Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara told AFP.

Prachanda was due to fly to Beijing on Saturday and make his first foray on the international stage to attend the Olympics closing ceremony and meet Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The formation of the government follows the Himalayan country's abolition of its unpopular 240-year-old monarchy two months ago after the Maoists won just over a third of the seats in the new constitutional assembly.