World News | Nepal: Ruling coalition reaches power-sharing deal, expands cabinet today

Kathmandu [Nepal]March 28 (ANI): After weeks of struggling to expand his cabinet, the prime minister and the top leaders of the main ruling coalition partners are now moving closer to a power-sharing deal, the Kathmandu Post reported.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal will expand his cabinet by Wednesday, if not Tuesday, sources in the prime minister’s secretariat said.

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According to sources, Dahal is now aiming to at least appoint ministers in key ministries, even if he fails to fully shape his cabinet.

Currently, Dahal is in charge of 16 ministries and runs the government with the help of five ministers and a minister of state. Five of them were from his own political party and one was from the Janamat party, the Kathmandu Post reported.

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Seeking to expand his cabinet, the prime minister convened a meeting of the ruling coalition on Tuesday afternoon, based on an understanding reached at Monday’s meeting with the top leaders of key coalition partners.

Dahal was in Baluwatar on Monday with Congress chairman Sher Bahadur Deuba and Nepal’s Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist) chairman Madhav Kumar ( Madhav Kumar Nepal for discussions on power-sharing, the Kathmandu Post reported.

According to members of the prime minister’s secretariat, Dahal wants to expand the size of his cabinet by Tuesday at the latest, provided all coalition partners agree to a broader power-sharing agreement reached by the supreme leader. But not all coalition partners are convinced by the proposed deal as they demand not only more ministries but also the portfolio of their choice.

“We discussed cabinet expansion today, but the matter has not been resolved,” CPN (United Socialists) president Madhav Kumar Nepal told the Post after a tripartite meeting on Monday. “I think the prime minister needs another two or three days to expand his cabinet.

“But Haribol Gajurel, chief adviser to the prime minister, claimed that the cabinet would be expanded on Wednesday, if not Tuesday.

“While coalition partners have been demanding more ministries, the top leaders are close to a consensus,” Gajurel said. “The prime minister is trying to expand the cabinet by finalizing which ministries will be led by which parties.”

According to Gajurel, the prime minister is planning to call a meeting of coalition partners to address the issue.

However, according to the Kathmandu Post, some leaders of the ruling coalition accused the SUP and Congress parties of stalling as the latter struggled to finalize their ministerial candidates.

The United Socialist party, which has only 10 seats in the House of Representatives, has been demanding three ministries, one of which is the interior, finance and physical infrastructure and transport ministries. Other coalition partners don’t want the party to gain so much prominence. According to the “Kathmandu Post” report, the United Socialist Party failed to become a national political party in the last parliamentary election with only 3% of the total valid votes cast under the proportional representation system.

There are other contenders. For example, the Congress Party and the Maoist Center feuded over family and financial portfolios.

Narayan Kaji Shrestha, senior vice-chairman of the ruling Maoist Center, organized a news conference on Monday to open up about his activities as deputy prime minister and minister of physical infrastructure and transport, suggesting he may quit the ministry to take over, according to the Kathmandu Post. Another portfolio.

However, Shrestha told reporters that the claim that he would be the next home minister was untrue. He said the prime minister made the decision and he would abide by any decision.

Although Nagarik Unmukti party chairwoman Ranjita Shrestha recently told the Post that her party would not join the government, its general secretary Ratan Thapa claimed the party had recommended party chair Shrestha to join the government at the prime minister’s request.

“Yes, our party will join the government because the ruling coalition is committed to meeting our party’s demand for the release of our patron, Resham Chaudhary,” Thapa told the Post.

The prime minister is preparing to expand his cabinet after laying out the coalition’s Common Minimum Program (CMP). But he is now prioritizing expanding his cabinet as preparations for the CMP may take some time, according to the Kathmandu Post.

On Sunday, United Socialist Nepal also said that the cabinet would be expanded only when the CMP is ready.

According to Congress leaders, party president Sher Bahadur Deuba is preparing to send party deputy Purna Bahadur Khadkar as government finance minister to lead the party in the cabinet, while Plaka Sh Sharan Mahat may be foreign minister.

“Although former interior minister Khadkar also wanted the same ministry this time, the Maoist Center insisted on keeping it,” said a Congress leader, who asked not to be named. “Since the Home Ministry’s portfolio is not in competition, Khadkar wants the Finance Ministry, in which case he can get the Foreign Office.”

However, a Congress leader close to Mahat claimed that Khadkar was likely to lead the party as deputy prime minister and defense minister, while Mahat would lead the finance ministry.

Possible Congress ministers include Dig Bahadur Limbu and Sita Gurung from Kosi, Ramesh Rijal or Teju Lal Chaudhary from Madhesh, Mahat and Mohan Basnet from Bagmati, Dhan Raj Gurung or Jivan Pariyar from Gandaki, Kishor Singh from Lumbini Rathaur, Khadka from Karnali and Bir, Bahadur Balayar or NP Saud from Sudurpaschim, according to the Kathmandu Post.

The prime minister has been adamant about retaining the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology for his own party.

Judging from the current situation, the current Deputy Prime Minister Shrestha is expected to be appointed as the new Minister of the Interior. The party’s leader, Reka Sharma, already heads the communications ministry, which is also the government’s spokesman. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)