Sher Bahadur Deuba took oath as Nepal’s Prime Minister for a record fifth time after the Supreme Court’s intervention.

The 75-year-old veteran politician and Nepali Congress president took the oath of office and secrecy from President Bidya Devi Bhandari during a swearing-in ceremony at the President’s Office, Sheetal Niwas.

Deuba’s appointment ended K.P. Sharma Oli’s three-and-a-half-year-long and eventful tenure as prime minister. 

Political crisis in Nepal

• Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) leader Oli became PM in February 2018 and was supported by the UCPN-Maoists, Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal, and Madhesi Rights Forum-Democratic, along with 13 other small parties.

• In December 2020, Oli recommended the dissolution of Parliament, a controversial move amidst a prolonged tussle for power between him and former premier Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda”.

• This year, in February, the constitutional bench of Nepal Supreme Court annulled the government’s decision to dissolve the 275-member lower house of Parliament. The court termed the dissolution of the House as “unconstitutional” and ordered the government to summon the House session.

• On May 10, Oli lost the vote of confidence motion. He managed to garner only 93 votes, which fell short of 43 votes to reach the 136-mark and win the vote of confidence. 

• Later, President Bhandari dissolved the House of Representatives and announced mid-term polls in November in line with Article 76(7) of the Constitution of Nepal. Bhandari’s announcement came after PM Oli recommended the dissolution of the House.

• Then, opposition leader and Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba  staked the claim to form the government as per Article 76(5) with the support of 149 lawmakers of the 275-member Parliament, but President Bhandari invalidated the claim.

• On July 12, the Supreme Court directed President Bhandari to appoint Deuba as prime minister. 

Four new ministers also take oath

• The oath ceremony was delayed after the Nepali Congress party took exception to the Office of the President’s statement that did not mention the constitutional provision under which Deuba was appointed the PM.

• A five-member constitutional bench had said that Deuba must be appointed the PM in line with Article 76(5) of the Constitution.

• As per Article 76(5), any member of the House of Representatives who presents a ground on which she/he can garner a vote of confidence in the House gets appointed as PM.

• With Deuba insisting on a fresh appointment notice, President Bhandari agreed to his condition and appointed him under Article 76(5) of the Constitution, resolving the last-minute hitch.

• Four new ministers — two each from Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-Maoist Centre — also took oath of office as part of Deuba's small Cabinet.

• Deuba has previously served as Nepal’s PM four times, from September 1995-March 1997, July 2001-October 2002, June 2004-February 2005 and June 2017-February 2018.

• Deuba is required to seek a vote of confidence from the 275-member House of Representatives within 30 days of his appointment as the prime minister, as per the constitutional provisions.

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