Nepal cabinet reshuffled for seventh time, 5 ministries still remain with PM Dahal
Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias “Prachanda” has reached the President’s Office with the list of ministers to be sworn in today, sources in the PM Secretariat told ANI.
The Himalayan nation’s prime minister had planned the 7th cabinet reshuffle since coming to power last December.
Abdul Khan, who was to continue as the Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation from the Janmat Party, has now submitted his resignation to Dahal, expressing dissatisfaction over the allocation of ministries in the 7th round of cabinet reshuffle within the last three months.
A new coalition of 10 parties was formed after the PM took a vote of confidence on March 20 and had to expand the cabinet as two other parties left the earlier alliance.
Prime Minister Dahal is planning to administer the oath to all the ministers by 3 pm (local time) today, sources in the PM Secretariat confirmed to ANI.
With the swearing-in set for 3 pm (NST), the final name list of ministers is yet to be ascertained. By 2 pm (NST), Dahal plans to induct Purna Bahadur Khadka, Prakash Sharan Mahat, Ramesh Rijal and Sita Gurung into the cabinet.
Khadka will hold the post of Deputy Prime Minister as well as Defense Minister, Mahat Finance Minister, Rizal Industries, Trade and Commerce and Gurung Urban Development Minister.
Narayan Kazi Shrestha from the Maoist center will be assigned the Home Minister as well as the Deputy Prime Minister. Shakti Basnet will continue as Energy Minister while Rekha Sharma will continue as Communications Minister. Similarly, Sudan Kirati will continue as Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and Amanlal Modi will be assigned to the Ministry of Federal Affairs.
From CPI(M) – Integrated Socialist Beduram Bhusal will become Agriculture Minister and Prakash Jwala will become Physical Infrastructure Minister.
Ashok Rai of the Janata Samajwadi Party will be the Education Minister while Sharad Singh Bhandari of the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party will be the Labor Minister.
Nagrik Unmukti Party’s Ranjita Shrestha will be the land reforms minister while Mahindra Raya Yadav will be the women, children and senior citizens minister.
A week after winning the confidence of the House for the second time, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is still struggling to expand his cabinet. According to a report in the Kathmandu Post, if the statements of key leaders of the coalition partners are to be believed, the Prime Minister may take a few more days to appoint ministers.
As Dahal is looking after 16 ministries on his own, it shows the complexity of power-sharing between the coalition partners.
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