NCP collects suggestions to appoint deptt heads

Failure to name department chiefs has delayed party unification process

Kathmandu, August 10

General Secretary of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Bishnu Paudel has completed consultations with party leaders on who should head the 33 departments of the party.

Paudel will present his report to the party’s top leaders in a secretariat meeting scheduled for Monday.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is in Singapore for follow-up health check-up, will return from the island nation tomorrow. NCP’s Secretariat meeting held on July 29 had failed to name the heads of the party’s departments.

Top leaders had said that they needed to do some groundwork before announcing the heads of the departments.

Co-chairs of the party Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal had asked Paudel to interact with Standing Committee members on who should lead the departments.

Talking to THT Beduram Bhusal, a standing committee member who is close to senior leader of the party Madhav Kumar Nepal, said, “I told Paudel that I am able to lead the Training Department.” Top leaders are facing difficulties in naming the head of this department as two key leaders — Ishwar Pokharel from former CPN-UML and Narayan Kaji Shrestha from former CPN-Maoist Centre — have been competing to lead the key department of the party.

Besides these three candidates, another standing committee member Ghana Shyam Bhusal said publicly that he was capable of leading the Training Department. But PM Oli is lobbying for Pokharel and Dahal is in favour of Shrestha. Former Maoists want to keep Pokharel away from the post because he has been advocating People’s Multi-Party Democracy, the ideology of late general secretary of former CPN-UML Madan Bhandari. Bhusal said he told Paudel that the party should follow the agenda of ‘one person, one post’. “It will be better if the party follows this rule and allocates work accordingly,” he added.

Out of 33 departments, former CPN-MC has got 18 departments and former CPN- UML got 14 departments.

Both sides have been claiming the Training Department. “I have completed my consultation with leaders of the party regarding department heads,” Paudel told THT.

“I will present their suggestions in the party’s meeting.” Failure on the part of senior leaders to name department chiefs has delayed the party’s unification process. Former CPN-UML and CPN-MC had merged in May last year, but the party has yet to complete the merger process.

Devendra Paudel, who is close to Pushpa Kamal Dahal said, “The two co-chairs will decide on department heads on the basis of suggestions presented by Paudel.”

Although Paudel consulted most of the Standing Committee members to know if they were interested in leading any department, he didn’t consult Bhim Rawal for his inputs.

“I have not received any calls from Paudel till now,” Rawal told THT.