Nepal's EC postpones November's parl poll after SC reinstates dissolved House

Kathmandu: Nepal's Election Commission on Tuesday postponed the parliamentary election scheduled for November 12 and 19 in the country following the reinstatement of the House of Representatives by the Supreme Court.

The apex court on Monday overturned embattled Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli's May 21 decision to dissolve the House of Representatives and ordered the appointment of Opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba as prime minister.

The election scheduled for November following the dissolution of the House of Representatives will not be held immediately as the Parliament has been reinstated, Election Commission spokesperson Raj Kumar Shrestha said.

At the recommendation of Oli, President Bidya Bhandari dissolved the lower house for the second time in five months on May 22 and announced snap elections on November 12 and November 19. As many as 30 petitions were filed at the Supreme Court against the move.

"After the Supreme Court's decision, there was no need to move ahead with the election preparations," Shrestha was quoted as saying by MyRepublica news website.

"The commission will hold a meeting and postpone the preparations, he said.

According to the EC, although it has yet to receive written information about the decision from the Supreme Court, it has postponed the process on the basis of Monday's information, the report said.

Shrestha said the Commission has made some preparations for the election but not much money has been spent on it.

The finance ministry had earlier approved the budget for the election and the commission had approved the financial procedure for it.

Sher Bahadur Deuba on Tuesday formally became the country's Prime Minister for a record fifth time after the Supreme Court's intervention.

The 75-year-old veteran politician took the oath of office and secrecy from President Bidya Devi Bhandari during a swearing-in ceremony here.

The ceremony, initially set to be held at 6:00 pm (17:45 IST), was delayed after Deuba said he would not take the oath of office until the President revises the notice of his appointment.

However, the president's office has failed to disclose the article under which Deuba is being made the prime minister in the notice, The Himalayan Times reported.

After receiving some legal counsel, Deuba sent across a message to President Bhandari that he will not take the oath until the error is rectified, the paper said.

The oath taking ceremony took place two hours later than scheduled, at around 8:15 pm, after the president's office issued a revised notice.

Four new ministers - two each from Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-Maoist Centre - also took oath of office.

Deuba is set to form a small Cabinet on Tuesday, a day after the Supreme Court directed President Bidya Devi Bhandari to appoint the Nepali Congress chief as the country's new prime minister.