Girija Prasad Koirala
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224952440
2008-07-11T04:12:34Z
Someguy1221
3315180
Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/Hailbihar|Hailbihar]] ([[User talk:Hailbihar|talk]]) to last version by Kathmandu2007
{{Infobox Prime Minister
| name = Girija Prasad Koirala<br><small>गिरिजा प्रसाद कोइराला</small>
| image = Girija Prasad Koirala.png
| imagesize = 200px
| order = [[Head of State|Head of State of Nepal]]<br><small>Acting</small>
| term_start = [[15 January]] [[2007]]<br>
| term_end =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| order2 = [[Prime Minister of Nepal]]
| monarch2 = [[Gyanendra of Nepal|Gyanendra]]
| deputy2 = [[Ram Chandra Poudel]]
| term_start2 = [[25 April]] [[2006]]
| term_end2 =
| predecessor2 = [[Sher Bahadur Deuba]]
| successor2 =
| monarch3 = [[Birendra of Nepal|Birendra]]<br>[[Dipendra of Nepal|Dipendra]]<br>[[Gyanendra of Nepal|Gyanendra]]
| term_start3 = [[22 March]] [[2000]]
| term_end3 = [[26 July]] [[2001]]
| predecessor3 = [[Krishna Prasad Bhattarai]]
| successor3 = [[Sher Bahadur Deuba]]
| monarch4 = [[Birendra of Nepal|Birendra]]
| term_start4 = [[15 April]] [[1998]]
| term_end4 = [[31 May]] [[1999]]
| predecessor4 = [[Surya Bahadur Thapa]]
| successor4 = [[Krishna Prasad Bhattarai]]
| monarch5 = [[Birendra of Nepal|Birendra]]
| term_start5 = [[26 May]] [[1991]]
| term_end5 = [[30 November]] [[1994]]
| predecessor5 = [[Krishna Prasad Bhattarai]]
| successor5 = [[Man Mohan Adhikari]]
| birth_date = 1925
| birth_place = [[Bihar]], [[India]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = [[Seven Party Alliance|SPA]]-[[Nepali Congress|NC]]
| spouse = [[Sushma Koirala]]
| children = [[Sujata Koirala]]
| residence = [[Baluwatar]], [[Kathmandu]], [[Nepal]]
| religion = [[Hindu]]
| website = [http://www.pmo.gov.np/]
}}
'''Girija Prasad Koirala''' ({{lang-ne|गिरिजा प्रसाद कोइराला}}, born [[1925]]) is the [[Head of State|Acting Head of State]] and [[List of Prime Ministers of Nepal|Prime Minister]] of [[Nepal]]. He has been Prime Minister of Nepal four times, serving from 1991 to 1994, 1998 to 1999, 2000 to 2001, and again since April 2006. He is also the President of the [[Nepali Congress]] and leader of the [[Seven Party Alliance]] (SPA). He has been active in politics for over sixty years and is a pioneer of Nepalese labour movement for starting labor movement in the [[Jute mill]]s of his hometown [[Biratnagar]]. In 1991 he became the only democratically elected Prime Minister of Nepal since 1959, when his brother [[Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala|B. P. Koirala]] and the [[Nepali Congress]] party had swept the country's first democratic election.
== 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. [http://www.opmcm.gov.np/index.php?param=p7] 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 ===
He was elected Member of Parliament in 1991 in [[Nepalese legislative elections, 1991|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 enacted 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, Nepal]] with assistance from the government of [[People's Republic of China|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 [[Nepalese legislative elections, 1994|the elections that followed]].
=== Second term ===
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 ===
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. The Nepali Congress Party had won the election claiming Krishna Prasad Bhattarai would be the Prime Minister, but Koirala led a group of dissident MPs and forced 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 [[Narayanhity Royal Palace|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 ===
After the reinstatement of the Nepal House of Representatives, [[Pratinidhi Sabha]], on [[24 April]] [[2006]] following the [[2006 democracy movement in Nepal|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 composed of the SPA and the CPN (Maoist).
Following the [[Nepalese Constituent Assembly election, 2008|April 2008 Constituent Assembly election]], the Constituent Assembly voted to declare Nepal a republic on [[28 May]] [[2008]]. Koirala, speaking to the Constituent Assembly shortly before the vote, said that "we have a big responsibility now"; he said that Nepal was entering a "new era" and that "the nation's dream has come true".<ref>[http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0A9B5B1F-5BF2-4ACB-A159-700F21DAD3C4.htm "Nepal abolishes monarchy"], Al Jazeera, May 29, 2008.</ref>
In the discussions on power-sharing that followed the declaration of a republic, the Nepali Congress proposed that Koirala become the first President of Nepal; however, the CPN (Maoist), which emerged as the strongest party in the Constituent Assembly election, opposed this.<ref>[http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2008/jun/jun15/news10.php "I won't plead before anyone for presidency, says PM"], Nepalnews, June 15, 2008.</ref> At a meeting of the Constituent Assembly on [[June 26]], [[2008]], Koirala announced his resignation, although it will not be finalized until after the election of a President, to whom the resignation must be submitted.<ref>[http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2008/jun/jun26/news09.php "Prime Minister announces his resignation"], Nepalnews, June 26, 2008.</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Krishna Prasad Bhattarai]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Nepal]]|years=1991 – 1994}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Man Mohan Adhikari]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Surya Bahadur Thapa]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Nepal]]|years=1998 – 1999}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Krishna Prasad Bhattarai]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Krishna Prasad Bhattarai]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Nepal]]|years=2000 – 2001}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sher Bahadur Deuba]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Sher Bahadur Deuba]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Nepal]]|years=2006 – present}}
{{s-aft|after=Incumbent}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Gyanendra of Nepal|Gyanendra]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Head of state|Head of State of Nepal]]<br><small>Acting</small>|years=2007 – present}}
{{s-inc}}
{{end}}
{{Prime Ministers of Nepal}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koirala, Girija Prasad}}
[[Category:Prime Ministers of Nepal]]
[[Category:Current national leaders]]
[[Category:Nepalese politicians]]
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Followers of Sathya Sai Baba]]
[[Category:Nepalese Hindus]]
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