KATHMANDU, JUNE 6
Hopes of four leaders of the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led CPN (Unified Socialist) who were waiting to be inducted into the Cabinet today were dashed as Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba refused to reshuffle the Cabinet.
Nepal had submitted names of four ministers -- Jeevan Ram Shrestha, Metmani Chaudhary, Sher Bahadur Kunwar, and Hira KC -- to the PM yesterday, telling him the party's decision to recall existing CPN (US) ministers -- Birodh Khatiwada, Ram Kumari Jhakri, Krishna Kumar Shrestha and Prem Bahadur Ale.
All four were unhappy with the party's decision to recall them after only a few months and met the PM today to object to the party's decision, saying their removal would pose challenge to the government as the new ministers would not be able to give satisfactory replies to lawmakers' budgetary questions in the Parliament. Lawmakers ask ministers questions related to their ministries.
Minister of Health and Population Birodh Khatiwada told THT that the party had not informed him of its decision to remove any party minister from the Cabinet and the news about his party recalling the four ministers from the Cabinet was false.
"Nowhere in the world is the Cabinet reshuffled during the budget discussion," Khatiwada said.
CPN (US) leader Jhalanath Khanal expressed his discomfiture at the PM for not reshuffling the Cabinet today. "It's the party's sovereign right to recall its ministers and send a newteam," he told mediapersons here today. He added that when the party joined the Deuba government, an understanding was reached to replace the current team of ministers after six months.
CPN (US) Spokesperson Jagannath Khatiwada said the PM should implement the CPN (US) decision. Khatiwada said the PM told CPN (US) leaders that if the party recalled its ministers and sent new ministers to the Cabinet, the PM would face similar pressure from his party leaders to change and replace Nepali Congress ministers.
Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal's Upendra Yadav told THT that reshuffling the Cabinet was the PM's prerogative and he would do so at the time of his choosing.
He said the PM was against reshuffling the Cabinet as the budget was being discussed in the Parliament. Asked if his party would leave the coalition government, Yadav said JSP-N leaders had not discussed the issue.
He scotched the rumour that the PM had asked him to leave two ministerial portfolios so that he could induct the Mahantha Thakur-led Democratic Socialist Party-Nepal leaders into the Cabinet.
A CPN-Maoist Centre leader told THT that the CPN (US) had given the names of new ministers, but the PM wanted to reshuffle the Cabinet only after ministers replied to budgetary questions in the Parliament.
"CPN (US) decision to recall their ministers and send a new team to the Cabinet has provoked some leaders of our party as well, but we have not discussed the issue yet," the leader added.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 7, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
