Prime Minister - Nepal - King Gyanendra appointed the veteran politician GP Koirala, an octogenarian, as prime minister on 27 April 2006, ending more than a year of direct rule by the monarch. The leaders of a seven-party alliance selected him as their candidate to head a new government after the king agreed to reinstate parliament following street protests against his direct rule. The administration wants to bring the Maoists into the political mainstream and has held peace talks with the rebels. It aims to set up an elected assembly, which will be tasked with creating a new constitution. Mr Koirala leads the Nepali Congress, the country's largest and oldest political party. He became Nepal's first elected premier in 1991 and began his fourth and most recent term in 2000. The former trade union leader and exile was detained several times during the latest period of direct rule by the king. He was jailed in the 1960s while campaigning for democratic rule.