Kathmandu: Nepal's 84-year-old Prime Minister-designate Girija Prasad Koirala has had to postpone his swearing-in ceremony on Friday morning because of ill health.
Spokesman Krishna Prasad Situala said Koirala had been put on oxygen and saline for a lung and rib problem on Thursday and was being seen by doctors again on Friday.
He was to address a public meeting yesterday but did not do so as he was suffering from bronchitis, Situala added.
"His health is improving and he may be sworn-in today but the time is not fixed," his nephew and Nepali Congress member Sekhar Koirala said.
"The swearing-in ceremony has been postponed for later today. Parliament will sit but it will only be a formal sitting."
However, the revived Nepali Parliament will meet on Friday afternoon as per the schedule.
Nepalese Parliament will meet for the first time today in four years under pressure from Maoist rebels and the Seven Party Alliance (SPA).
Koirala had been appointed by King Gyanendra as Prime Minister as recommended by the SPA that spearheaded weeks of pro-democracy movement in Nepal.
Koirala would be occupying the top post for the fifth time in his career. He was the first elected Prime Minister in 1991 after the 1990 people's movement.
Koirala was also unanimously elected as the leader of Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party on Thursday.
Brightening prospects of return of peace and democracy in Nepal, Maoists on Wednesday night announced a three-month unilateral truce, a move immediately welcomed by the SPA, which vowed to remove the terror tag on the rebels and hold negotiations with them to bring them into political mainstream.
However, the Maoists, stuck to their demand for Constituent Assembly that would draft a new Constitution which is likely to limit the powers of the King in governance
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