By Our Reporter
The two chairmen of the ruling Nepal Communist Party, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal have been holding a meeting every day since Thursday to finalise the issue of cabinet reshuffle as recent Standing Committee meeting mandated them. However, they have not reached an agreement leading to a delay in reshuffling the cabinet. Every day, the two leaders discussed the issue for two to three hours but failed to reach an agreement regarding the modality of the reshuffle. It was reported that Prime Minister Oli wants a total reshuffling, by removing almost all ministers appointed two and a half years back with a few exceptions while Dahal wants to give continuity to some ministers and appoint Bam Dev Gautam. But now the Supreme Court order has prevented the appointment of Gautam in the cabinet, and the order came as per the wish of Prime Minister Oli.
Now when Oli denied reshuffling the cabinet at the instruction of the party, many have started suspecting whether he was challenging to the mandate of the recent Standing Committee meeting.
However, the crux of the problem lies in the personal interest of the two party leaders. While Dahal wants continuity of his daughter-in-law Bina Magar in the Cabinet and appointment of Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Oli wants Janardan Sharma and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi in the cabinet for supporting him when the dispute reached its peak in the party. Likewise, Oli wants to have a few men close to him in the cabinet, which Dahal has opposed due to their obscure past. It may not be a wonder if the Prime Minister lingers the meeting, making cabinet reshuffle impossible before the end of the festival season.
It is learnt that after reaching an understanding on the modality of the cabinet reshuffle, the proposal of the cabinet reshuffle will be taken to the secretariat meeting.
The party secretariat meeting on September 20 has set four agendas, including cabinet reshuffle and appointment in the constitutional bodies.
People’s Review Print Edition
Login to add a comment