KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 26
Newly-appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal took the oath of office and secrecy at the President's Office in Sheetal Niwas today, along with three deputy prime ministers and four ministers. President Bidhya Devi Bhandari swore them in.
The three deputy prime ministers are Bishnu Paudel, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, and Rabi Lamichhane. Paudel is finance minister, Shrestha physical planning and transport minister, and Lamichhane is home minister. Portfolios of the other ministers - Jwala Kumari Sah, Abdul Khan, Rajendra Kumar Rai, and Damodar Bhandari - are yet to be decided.
Dahal has become the PM for the third time. On the last two occasions, in 2008 and 2016, he had taken the oath attired in business suit, but today he wore Daura Surwal.
In the Cabinet led by Dahal, who is the chair of CPN-Maoist Centre, Narayan Kaji Shrestha represents the CPN-MC, Abdul Khan represents the CK Raut-led Janmat Party, and Lamichhane is the chair of Rastriya Swatantra Party, whereas the other ministers are from the CPN-UML.
Shrestha is a member of the National Assembly, whereas all other members of the Cabinet are members of the House of Representative.
Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa said it was his party's mistake that it failed to save the five-party ruling alliance, but the CPN-MC betrayed other partners of the alliance by leaving it.
"Other parties - the Rastriya Swatantra Party, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, the Janmat Party, and the Nagarik Unmukti Party - were free to join any alliance, but the NC and the CPN-MC, which fought the election as part of the same alliance, did not have the luxury of leaving the alliance suddenly," he added. He said NC voters also voted for Dahal.
"This was the reason I had said that there should be no alliance before the polls. We do not have the culture to respect the alliance," he said.
Raut said Khan would be the minister of industry, commerce and supplies. He said he would not join the government.
Earlier, Lamichhane said he floated the idea of a common minimum programme to run the government and the PM was positive about it.
He told alliance partners that a commission should be formed to investigate corruption and bring reforms in education and health sectors.
"We want to ensure voting rights for Nepali migrant workers working in foreign countries, he added.
RPP Chief Rajendra Lingden said his party would offer outside support to Dahal and would not join the government.
Asked if he feared split in the RPP, if it joined the government, Lingden said, "Our party decided only to support the new government from outside," he added.
Eight-member Cabinet
• Pushpa Kamal Dahal: Prime Minister
• Bishnu Paudel: Deputy Prime Minister/ Minister of Finance
• Narayan Kaji Shrestha: Deputy Prime Minister/ Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport
• Rabi Lamichhane: Deputy Prime Minister/ Minister of Home Affairs
• Jwala Kumari Sah: Minister
• Damodar Bhandari: Minister
• Rajendra Kumar Rai: Minister
• Abdul Khan: Minister
(Ministers Sah, Bhandari, Rai, and Khan's portfolios will be assigned later)
A version of this article appears in the print on December 27, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.