Nepal SC appoints Sher Bahadur Deuba as PM

Nepal Supreme Court on Monday reinstated the dissolved lower house of Parliament and issued a mandamus ordering the appointment of Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba as Prime Minister within two days. Deuba will take oath as second Premier of the Himalayan Nation after the apex Court reinstated the dissolved lower house and issued a mandamus naming the opposition leader as the successor. A meeting was held in the capital on Monday afternoon, senior leaders of NC, CPN (Maoist Center), UpendraYadav-led Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), and Madhav Nepal-led faction of the UML. The meeting focused on discussing their future course of action including the formation of a new cabinet. 

Although the apex court's order has paved the way for Deuba to become a new prime minister, for now, Deuba will have to secure majority votes in the parliament to survive as prime minister for the remaining term of parliament. Deuba runs short of a majority as a rival faction of CPN-UML backs off. After months of intraparty rift, the rival faction of ruling CPN-UML under the leadership of Madhav Kumar Nepal has separated itself out from the alliance formed to fight against caretaker PM Oli. With the break off of the rival faction of CPN-UML, the largest seat holder in parliament, the fate of the vote of confidence for to-be-appointed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba remains uncertain. Deuba will have to secure the vote of confidence in parliament within a month after his appointment as the new prime minister. A total of 146 members of the House of Representatives (HoR) reached out to Supreme Court with a writ petition to demand the restoration of house and appoint Sher Bahadur Deuba, as next Prime Minister on May 24.