The announcement was made by the office of President Bidhya Devi Bhandari after the Maoist communist party leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal met her to stake his claim for the prime minister following last month's elections in a major twist in politics in the Himalayan nation.

Dahal has support of more than half the members of the newly elected House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament.

He is likely to take the oath of office on Monday and prove his majority in the 275-member house later in the week.

It is Dahal's third time in power since his Maoist group quit an armed revolt and joined mainstream politics in 2006.