President of the Nepali Congress, Sher Bahadur Deuba, is set to become the country’s next Prime Minister. Nepal‘s Supreme Court on Monday ordered Deuba’s appointment as the PM within the next two days, news agency PTI reported.
Deuba previously had several stints as the PM. He served as the country’s leader from 1995 to 1997, then from 2001 to 2002, again from 2004 to 2005 and recently, from 2017 to 2018.
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The chief of the Nepali Congress since 2016, Deuba is currently serving as the Leader of the Opposition, a position he has held since 2017.
A five-member constitutional bench also reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives for a second time in nearly five months.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari had dissolved the 275-member assembly for the second time in five months on May 22 at the recommendation of PM KP Sharma Oli. She had also announced snap elections on November 12 and November 19.
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At least 30 petitions, including one by the opposition alliance led by Deuba’s Nepali Congress, was filed against the dissolution of the House by the President.
The latest order of the SC bench, headed by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana, is a blow to Oli who is heading a minority government after losing a trust vote in the assembly.
Bhandari first dissolved the House on December 20 on the recommendation of Oli. She also ordered snap polls on April 30 and May 10. This move that plunged the Himalayan country into political uncertainty came amid a tussle for power within the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP).
The apex court, however, reinstated the dissolved House on February 23. This came as a blow to Oli who was preparing for the snap polls.