Nepal: Supreme Court orders appointment of Sher Bahadur Deuba as Prime Minister

Sher Bahadur Deuba. Pic/AFP

Nepal's Supreme Court has reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives for a second time in nearly five months, delivering a major blow to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli who is currently heading a minority government after losing a trust vote in the House.

A five-member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court has also ordered the appointment of Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba as prime minister within two days. The bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana had concluded hearings in the case last week. The bench comprised four other senior-most justices -- Dipak Kumar Karki, Mira Khadka, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Dr Ananda Mohan Bhattarai -- at the apex court.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari had dissolved the 275-member lower house for the second time in five months on May 22 at the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli and announced snap elections on November 12 and November 19. Last week, the Election Commission had announced the schedule for mid-term elections despite the uncertainty over polls.

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As many as 30 petitions, including one by the opposition alliance led by the Nepali Congress, were filed against the dissolution of the House by the President.
Nepal plunged into a political crisis on December 20 last year after President Bhandari dissolved the House and announced fresh elections on April 30 and May 10 at the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli, amidst a tussle for power within the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP).

On February 23, the apex court reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives, in a setback to embattled Prime Minister Oli who was preparing for snap polls.

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