Sher Bahadur Deuba becomes Nepal's PM for 5th time
Kathmandu: Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba on Tuesday became the country's Prime Minister for the fifth time, media reports said.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed him in accordance with Article 76(5) of the Constitution, The Himalayan Times reported.
This is the fifth time that 74-year-old Deuba is returning to power as the Prime Minister of Nepal.
His appointment is in line with the ruling issued by the Supreme Court on Monday to make way for his claim to premiership, replacing incumbent K P Sharma Oli.
The Office of the President has apprised Deuba of his appointment, the report said.
It was not immediately known when the swearing-in ceremony would take place as efforts were on for its preparation.
Previously, Deuba served as Nepal's Prime Minister four times from June 2017 February 2018, June 2004 February 2005, July 2001 October 2002 and September 1995 March 1997.
Deuba is required to seek a vote of confidence from the House within 30 days of his appointment as the Prime Minister, as per the constitutional provisions.
The Supreme Court on Monday overturned Prime Minister Oli's May 21 decision to dissolve the House of Representatives and ordered the appointment of Deuba as prime minister.
The five-member Constitutional Bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana said that Oli's claim to the post of prime minister was unconstitutional.
Reinstating the House yet again -- the court had restored the House earlier on February 23 after Oli dissolved it on December 20 -- the bench has ordered to make arrangements for holding the House meeting by 5 PM on July 18.
In its order, the constitutional bench said President Bhandari's decision to reject Deuba's claim to form a new government was unconstitutional.
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Melinda French Gates resigns as Gates Foundation co-chair, 3 years after her divorce from Bill Gates
New York, May 13: Melinda French Gates will step down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the nonprofit she and her ex-husband Bill Gates founded and built into one of the world's largest philanthropic organisations over the past 20 years.
“This is not a decision I came to lightly,” French Gates posted on the X platform on Monday. “I am immensely proud of the foundation that Bill and I built together and of the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequities around the world.”
She praised the foundation's CEO, Mark Suzman, and the foundation's board of trustees, which was significantly expanded after the couple announced their divorce in May 2021.
“The time is right for me to move forward into the next chapter of my philanthropy,” French Gates wrote in her statement. She organises some of her investments and philanthropic gifts through her organisation, Pivotal Ventures, which is not a nonprofit.
Bill Gates thanked French Gates for her “critical” contributions to the foundations in a statement, saying, “I am sorry to see her leave, but I am sure she will have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work.”
French Gates will receive $12.5 billion as part of her agreement with Gates, which she said would commit to future work focused on women and families.
The Gates Foundation did not immediately return a request for comment about whether those assets would come from the foundation itself. In an emailed statement, the foundation said that Suzman announced the decision to employees on Monday.
“After a difficult few years watching women's rights rolled back in the US and around the world, she wants to use this next chapter to focus specifically on altering that trajectory,” Suzman said of French Gates.
Suzman said he knew many had joined the foundation in part because of their admiration for her advocacy, especially around gender equity.
“I know how beloved Melinda is here,” Suzman wrote.
The Gates Foundation holds $75.2 billion in its endowment as of December 2023, and announced in January, it planned to spend $8.6 billion through the course of its work in 2024.
The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce from Pivotal Ventures.
