Nepal’s SC says new PM to be appointed
The Supreme Court has ordered Sher Bahadur Deuba to be appointed new PM as political turmoil takes new turn
KATHMANDU: In a landmark verdict, Nepal’s Supreme Court on Monday directed President Bidya Devi Bhandari to appoint Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba as prime minister by Tuesday and reinstated the House of Representatives for a second time in five months.
A five-member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana issued the verdict stating that President Bhandari’s decision to dissolve the Lower House upon a recommendation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was an unconstitutional act, delivering a major blow to the leader who was preparing for snap polls.
The bench issued a mandamus to appoint Deuba, 74, who has served as Nepal PM on four occasions earlier, as the Prime Minister by Tuesday.
KATHMANDU: In a landmark verdict, Nepal’s Supreme Court on Monday directed President Bidya Devi Bhandari to appoint Nepali Congress Party chief Sher Bahadur Deuba as the country’s prime minister by Tuesday and also reinstated the House of Representatives for a second time in five months.
A five-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court led by chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana issued the verdict stating that Bhandari’s decision to dissolve the lower house upon a recommendation of PM KP Sharma Oli was an unconstitutional act, delivering a major blow to the veteran Communist leader who was preparing for snap polls. The bench issued a mandamus to appoint Deuba as the PM.
Deuba, 74, has served as the prime minister on four occasions; first from 1995 to 1997, then from 2001 to 2002, again from 2004 to 2005, and from 2017 to 2018. Currently, he is the leader of the opposition in the House.
The court also ordered summoning a new session of the House of Representatives on July 18.
Chief justice Rana also said that the bench has concluded that party whip does not apply when lawmakers take part in the voting to elect a new PM as per the constitution.
The bench comprising four other justices - Dipak Kumar Karki, Mira Khadka, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Ananda Mohan Bhattarai - had concluded hearings in the case last week.
President Bhandari had dissolved the 275-member lower house for the second time in five months on May 22 at the recommendation of Oli and announced snap elections on November 12 and November 19. Then last week, the election commission had announced the schedule for midterm elections despite the uncertainty over polls.
Welcoming the apex court verdict, senior leader of the
Nepal Communist Party-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal said that the judgment was welcome. “The Supreme Court has done a commendable job. This has saved the political system that is in place. Since the court has directly asked to appoint Deuba as prime minister, we have no role to play now,” he said.
Under Madhav Nepal’s leadership, 23 lawmakers of UML had put their signature in favour of Deuba’s claim to the prime ministership.
Madhav Nepal also said that parliament will now take all the decisions. “Parliament has been reinstated. We will now go to Parliament. All the decisions will be taken from parliament now,” he said. “The court’s verdict has raised moral questions on Oli’s actions.”
Meanwhile, PM Oli’s supporters, including youths and students affiliated to the ruling
CPN-UML, took to streets to protest against the apex court’s verdict against the 69-year-old Communist leader.
Cadres of the National Youth Force, affiliated to CPN-UML, gathered near the court premises in Kathmandu chanting slogans against the verdict.
“We are not bound to accept all the orders passed by the Supreme Court,” read a banner carried by the demonstrators.
Oli’s confidant and former minister Mahesh Basnet was also present at the protests, according to media reports.
As many as 30 petitions were filed against the dissolution of the House by the president. One of the petitions was filed by the opposition parties’ alliance with the signature of 146 lawmakers demanding reinstatement of the lower house of parliament and appointment of Deuba as the prime minister.