VETERAN NEPALI POLITICIAN GIRIJA PRASAD KOIRALA WAS SWORN IN AS PRIME MINISTER OF THE HIMALAYAN NATION ON SUNDAY, DAYS AFTER KING GYANENDRA RETURNED POWER TO POLITICAL PARTIES. THE KING, ADMINISTERED THE OATH OF OFFICE TO 84-YEAR-OLD KOIRALA AT THE NARAYANHITY ROYAL PALACE IN THE CAPITAL, KATHMANDU. A FRAIL KOIRALA, WHO IS SUFFERING FROM BRONCHITIS, WAVED AT REPORTERS OUTSIDE THE IRON GATE OF THE PALACE AFTER BECOMING NEPAL'S 15TH PRIME MINISTER IN 16 YEARS. HE DID NOT SPEAK. KOIRALA, THE HEAD OF THE NEPALI CONGRESS PARTY, DID NOT HOWEVER TAKE A SEPARATE OATH TO ESTABLISH HIMSELF AS A MEMBER OF THE RAJ PARISHAD, A PRIVY COUNCIL THAT ADVISES THE KING. THE PRIME MINISTER AUTOMATICALLY BECOMES A MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL UNDER NEPAL'S CONSTITUTION BUT POLITICAL PARTIES HAVE CALLED FOR IT TO BE ABOLISHED. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME A PRIME MINISTER HAD DECLINED AN OATH TO THE COUNCIL SINCE MULTI-PARTY DEMOCRACY WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1990 AND MARKED THE LATEST OF SEVERAL RECENT MOVES BY POLITICAL PARTIES TO DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM THE MONARCH. KOIRALA, WHO HAS BEEN PRIME MINISTER FOUR TIMES BEFORE, WAS ACCOMPANIED BY HIS DOCTOR TO THE CEREMONY, REUTERS QUOTED OFFICIALS AS SAYING.
