KATHMANDU, July 13: Nepali Congress president and Opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba was on Tuesday sworn in as the Prime Minister of Nepal the fifth time in place of KP Sharma Oli who had earlier lost majority.

The changes follow a Supreme Court order on a clutch of petitions that challenged the dissolution of the House of Representatives earlier after Oli lost majority support.

“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,” reads the one-sentence statement from the Office of the President.

A five-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court had on Monday ordered appointment of Deuba as Prime Minister within two days and reinstatement of the dissolved House in seven days. Deuba, 75, has previously served four terms as Prime Minister.

However, an Oli adviser said, “The court cannot appoint the Prime Minister. Appointing someone as Prime Minister is purely a Parliament’s business.”

The supporters of Oli demonstrated on the streets against the Supreme Court verdict.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari had dissolved the lower house of the parliament on May 22 upon the recommendation of Oli and announced snap elections on November 12 and 19 as Oli lost support in a confidence vote on May 10. There were 30 petitions filed against the dissolution of the House.

The President had dissolved the House on December 20 last year also and announced elections on April 30 and May 10 on Oli's recommendation after his party split and he lost majority support but the Supreme Court nullified the dissolution on February 23. Two dozen members of Oli's Communist Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) supported Deuba.

Deuba was reported as saying on Monday, "The court has saved democracy. Now five political parties will form a coalition Government."

Oli was elected PM for five years in February 2018 in alliance with Maoist Centre, a party of rebel Maoists.

The Constitutional Bench consisted of Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana, Deepak Kumar Karki, Mira Khadka, Ishwar Khatiwada and Ananda Mohan Bhattarai.

Anup Raj Sharma, a former Chief Justice, told the Kathmandu Post that though he disagrees with some of the points of the verdict, he would not hesitate to call it historic and bold.