KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 20

The Secretariat of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) today began discussion on Cabinet reshuffle.

NCP Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha said the meeting discussed policy issues regarding the Cabinet reshuffle from different angles, but it did not take a decision on the issue today. He said leaders did not discuss names of new or outgoing ministers. “If necessary, Secretariat members may later discuss with the prime minister who all to include in the Cabinet,” Shrestha told mediapersons after the Secretariat meeting.

He said the Secretariat had listed Cabinet reshuffle, completion of remaining tasks of party unification and economic incentives to Central Committee members and full-time cadres as its agenda. He said the NCP used to provide economic incentives to full-time cadres and leaders. “The Secretariat wants to decide on economic incentives for Central Committee members; provincial and local bodies can decide incentives for lower level leaders and cadres,” Shrestha added. The Secretariat will also dwell on appointments to constitutional bodies, apart from the issue of filling vacant posts in the party’s Central Committee and Standing Committee.

The Secretariat will also dwell on allowances for lawmakers in the face of COV- ID-19, Shrestha added. He said it would also discuss the government’s role in achieving social justice and prosperity.

Today’s meeting of the Secretariat was held in Paris Danda, which housed the erstwhile headquarters of the CPN-Maoist Centre. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was also present in the meeting. Previous meetings of the Secretariat were held at Oli’s official residence in Baluwatar.

Shifting of the meeting venue also reflects the delegation of full executive power to party Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

Tussle between Oli and Dahal led the ruling party to the brink of split recently, but the two leaders and their factions buried their hatchet after a six-member task force suggested ways for truce between the warring parties. Dahal became the executive chairman of the party as per the advice of the six-member task force.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on September 21, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.