Sher Bahadur Deuba to be Nepal's new Prime Minister: All you need to know
In a major setback for Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, the Supreme Court of Nepal on 12 July 2021 directed President Bidya Devi Bhandari to appoint four-time Prime Minister and Nepali Congress Chief Sher Bahadur Deuba as PM within two days and reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives for the second time in five months-- first on 20 December 2020 and then again on 23 May 2021.
The court also ordered summoning a new session of House of Representatives at 5 p.m. on July 18. The five-judge bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana had concluded hearings in the case last week. Other senior-most judges were Dipak Kumar Karki, Mira Khadka, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Dr. Ananda Mohan Bhattarai.
This comes after Prime Minister KP Oli formed a minority government despite losing a trust vote in the House.
Last week, the Election Commission announced the schedule for the upcoming mid-term poll elections, despite the uncertainty over polls.
Political Crisis in Nepal
Nepal plunged into a political crisis on 20 December 2020 after President Bhandari dissolved the House and announced fresh elections on 30 April 2021 and 10 May 2021 at the recommendation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari had dissolved the 275 members lower house for the second time in five months on 22 May 2020 and announced snap elections on 12 and 19 November 2021 as per PM KP Sharma Oli's recommendation.
The Oli-led government argued that the House could not elect a Prime Minister that would secure a majority in the House.
Petitions in the Supreme Court
As many as 30 petitions were filed at the Supreme Court against the move. A petition filed by the Opposition parties' alliance with the signature of 146 lawmakers demanding the reinstatement of the lower house of Parliament and the appointment of Deuba as the Prime Minister was set aside by Bhandari.
It is to be noted that a writ petition was filed by 146 members before the Supreme Court demanding that the 'Constitutional wrong and malafide committed by the President be set right by reinstating the Parliament and appointing Deuba as the Prime Minister'.
In February 2021, the apex court reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives even as Prime Minister Oli was preparing for snap polls.
The Constitutional Bench of the apex court concluded the hearings on the writ petitions on 5 July 2021. The four-member amicus curiae also presented its opinion on the House dissolution case, two argued the House should be reinstated while the other two agreed with OIi's move.
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