Sher Bahadur Deuba takes oath as Nepal’s new prime minister

Kathmandu, July 13 (EFE).- The head of the Nepali Congress party Sher Bahadur Deuba on Tuesday took oath as the new prime minister of Nepal, a day after the Supreme Court ordered his appointment and reinstated the parliament, ousting incumbent prime minister KP Sharma Oli.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari administered the oath of office and secrecy to the veteran Deuba for his fifth term as prime minister

The leader will head the government until the next general election, set to be held next year, if he survives a vote of trust in the House of Representatives within 30 days.

Oli resigned earlier on Tuesday following the court verdict, despite expressing dissatisfaction and alleging that the court had overstepped its jurisdiction to interfere in political affairs.

The Nepali parliament was first dissolved on Dec. 20 at the request of the Oli government, which had called for snap polls on Apr. 30 and May 10, but the Supreme Court annulled the decision in February on the grounds of it being unconstitutional.

However, Bhandari again dissolved the house after the opposition failed to form a government and called fresh polls in May, which were set to be held on Nov. 12 and 19.

On Monday the top court reversed this decision as the opposition coalition announced that they had a majority to form a fresh government led by Deuba.

The opposition leader had submitted a letter to the court showing the support of 149 of the 275 lawmakers in the house.

The decision is expected to conclude an intense power struggle between the two major communist groups in the country and signifies the end of the the strongest government in the two decades after the abolition of monarchy and a long and bloody left-wing rebellion

Deuba has became the second Nepali leader after Surya Bahadur Thapa to enjoy a fifth term in office.