The Supreme Court of Nepal has set the house in order, going against the diktats of the President and appointing Sher Bahadur Deuba as the new Prime Minister

The ongoing political battle in Nepal seems to have taken a new turn. For the third time in a row, the Supreme Court of Nepal has come to the rescue of the Nepalese Constitution and quashed the orders issued by President Bidya Devi Bhandari in support of Prime Minister KP Oli to dissolve Parliament on May 21 and appoint Oli as the interim Prime Minister although he has already lost the vote of confidence on May 10.

While listening to the arguments on 30 writ petitions filed by various independent individuals, human rights activists and political parties, the court ordered the President to appoint Nepali Congress Party president Sher Bahadur Deuba as the new Prime Minister by July 13, subject to him proving majority in Parliament with 30 days of his appointment as per Article 76 (5) of the Nepalese Constitution. Deuba enjoys support from the Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’-led Maoist party, Upendra Yadav and Baburam Bhattarai faction of the Samajbadi Party Madhav-Nepal faction of UML party.

The verdict on July 12 comes weeks after the court had quashed the appointment of 20 new Ministers in the Oli Cabinet on June 20. The acting Prime Minister, Oli, had appointed these Ministers, including two Deputy Prime Ministers, on June 4 and June 10 after he managed to crack a deal with a faction of the Janata Samajbadi Party led by Mahanta Thakur and Rajendra Mahto to support his minority Government. However, these Ministers were appointed when Parliament stood dissolved; thus, cancelled by the court.

In recent years, Oli rose to fame for his ultra-nationalistic outlook and an authoritarian working style. Oli was seen as a significant gainer after successfully managing his archrival Prachanda to ally during the 2017 parliamentary elections. He even merged the two parties to form the largest Nepal Communist Party, which ended the strong opposition against Oli. After two years of the merger, Prachanda reminded Oli to honour the understanding and hand over the premiership for the remaining period in May 2020. However, Oli disagreed, and a major political upheaval had struck Nepal. The inter-party feuds continued until the Supreme called the merger illegal and parted the two parties into their older forms.

Simultaneously, Oli was also involved in a verbal spat with India over the Kalapani border dispute. Asserting on his recently sought face, Oli distorted historical facts on the cultural front with India and accused the latter of border encroachment. He went on to issue a new political map of Nepal, showing Kalapani as part of Nepal. Thus, a new “Oli-garchy” was born.

However, if anyone has to be held responsible for the current state of political instability and the severe impact of COVID-19 in the country, it is KP Oli. When the country needed a mature and robust leadership, Oli thought singularly about himself and sought to protect his position. He had even challenged the judicial system, adding that the courts cannot appoint the Prime Minister. However, the apex court has proved otherwise.

Meanwhile, the new Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba, has several challenges to address. First, there are voices against Deuba to step down as the President of the Nepali Congress Party. Therefore, putting his party in order before everything will be a more arduous task. There are demands for a younger leadership in the Nepali Congress Party. A party, which has survived the Panchayat Era from 1960-1990, partial democracy in 1990, besides Maoist Insurgency from 1996 to 2006.

Second, there are big bargains from parties supporting the Nepali Congress, and one single dispute may jeopardise Deuba’s position. Maoists are unpredictable as they had supported the Nepali Congress in 2016; yet joined KP Oli in 2017 despite being in Government. Third, the foreign policy of Nepal is clearly in a shambles with no clarity on friends and encroachers. KP Oli has been a blue-eyed boy for China who has released venom against India in the last three years.

Therefore, Deuba will have the challenge to win back India’s trust, considering that the latter has been holding a longstanding silence on Nepal. It will be difficult for Deuba to balance with Maoists as Prachanda’s bonhomie with China is wide open. Only last week, Prachanda was seen paying his heartfelt tributaries to the Communist Party of China (CPC) and President Xi Jinping during the CPC and World Political Parties Summit on July 6 on the occasion of CPC centenary celebrations.

The judiciary in Nepal has proved its worth by not succumbing to political pressure. The power of the judiciary is a good sign of democratic values that were won in 2006 after a decade-long fight against 200-year-old feudal monarchy. However, to date, the democratic forces have been fighting within to claim power and political alliances have failed to provide political stability.

Therefore, Deuba’s appointment does not guarantee long-term hopes. Meanwhile, the people of Nepal are still left to choose between the worst and worse.

(The author is an ICSSR Doctoral Fellow at the JNU and Visiting Fellow at the Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs, Kathmandu. The views expressed are personal.)