KATHMANDU: Nepal's opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba has been sworn in as the nation's prime minister on Tuesday evening after the Supreme Court ruled that the parliament dissolution was unconstitutional.
Deuba, 74, is the prime minister for the fifth time, having first served as the nation's leader in 1995.
The Nepal Congress leader takes over caretaker Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli from the Nepal Communist Party, who had dissolved the House in May and called for elections in November.
Deuba claims to have the support of 149 members of the 275-seat lower house and has to prove it on the floor in a vote of confidence within 30 days.
The court has also ordered parliament to meet within seven days.
The Kathmandu Post reports that there was a last minute drama before his appointment over a statement from Nepal President's Office over the wording of his appointment letter.
The oath taking ceremony was delayed as the Congress party took exception to the statement as it did not mention the constitutional provision under which Deuba was appointed.
"President Bidya Devi Bhandari has appointed Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader and member of the House of Representative, Sher Bahadur Deuba, as prime minister as per the July 12, 2021, verdict of the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court," read the one-sentence statement.
Deuba then called up Chief Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi and urged him to raise the issue with the President and to correct the statement.
However the President's Office refused to change it, a Nepali Congress leader said
The Post said that after much debate and discussion, the President agreed to correct the statement and mentioned that Deuba was appointed prime minister as per Article 76 (5) of the constitution and the swearing-in ceremony took place.
His appointment ends Oli's three and a half-year-long tenure as prime minister.
Deuba, first became prime minister on September 12, 1995 and served until March 12, 1997. He was again appointed prime minister on July 26, 2001. In May 2002, Deuba dissolved the Parliament and called for fresh elections.
But when he sought to postpone the elections, then King Gyanendra sacked him on Oct 4, 2002, and branded him "incompetent".
However, the King appointed Deuba again on June 4, 2004, only to be sacked again on Feb 1, 2005, when Gyanendra usurped power in the Himalayan nation.
Deuba returned to power once again in 2017 when he was appointed prime minister on June 7.
Oli took over as the premier after his party won the 2017 elections.
Political analysts believe Deuba is likely to bring Nepal back closer to India as during Oli's tenure, ties with India were strained over border issues and he was seen as leaning towards China.