Kathmandu, August 29:

The cabinet is expected to appoint 27 secretaries and 20 envoys tomorrow following weeks of intense lobbying over who should be promoted, who goes where and which party gets how many capitals.

Appointment of secretaries will be possible only in the event the concerned committee sorts out a few remaining names after sitting down with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

But Minister of Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation Prithvi Subba Gurung categorically said secretaries were picked late in the day and that “their appointment was on the agenda.”

Bureaucrats likely to find favour include Tana Gautam, Gyan Chandra Acharya, Rameswor Prasad Khanal, Purushottam Ojha, Baburam Acharya, Shankar Koirala, Purna Kaderia and Ram Kumar Shrestha.

Balanand Paudel, Sushil Jung Bahadur Rana, Bhagawati Kafle, Shankar Prasad Pandey, Bhagirath Basnet, Shyam Prasad Mainali, Ramsarovar Dubey and Punya Prasad

Neupane are other aspirants likely to be appointed. The reason why their appointment is a foregone conclusion is they have been serving as acting secretaries.

Those likely to represent Tarai include Umakant Jha and Brij Kishore Jha while Brinda Hada is tipped to be representing women at the top level. Joint secretaries aspiring for promotion include Baman Neupane, Purushottam Ojha, Baburam Acharya, Leelamani Paudel, Govind Prasad Kusum and Ram Hari Aryal.

Two will be picked from among Deep Basnet, Dr Trilochan Upreti and Laxman Prasad Mainali.

However appointment of secretaries will still depend on what happens at the last moment and whether Prime Minister can settle the issue himself by picking the last two.

CPN-UML’s nominees Pramesh Hamal, Tanka Karki, Ganesh Yonjan, Hamid Ansari, Kamal Koirala and Guna Laxmi Sharma BK are likely to be Nepal’s ambassadors to Brussels, Beijing, Tokyo, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Myanmar, respectively.

NC’s Shailaja Acharya, Dr Suresh Chandra Chalise, Surya Nath Mishra, Surya Kiran Gurung, Navin Prakash Jung Shah and Murari Raj Sharma are likely to bag coveted posts in New Delhi, Washington, Doha, Moscow, Bangkok and London.

Maoist nominees include Yogendra Dhakal for Australia, Rishi Acharya for Malayasia, Bijaya Kant Lal Karna for Denmark and Pampha Bhusal for France. NC (D) has nominated Bal Bahadur Kunwar for Islamabad.

Career diplomats picked for ambassadorial assignment include Dinesh Bhattarai to Geneva, Pradeep Khatiwada to Bangladesh and Arjun Bahadur Thapa to Israel.

Other items on the agenda include endorsing the nationalisation of eight forests and five royal retreats that had so far been in the name of the royal family. The recommendation was made by a cabinet committee headed by Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula earlier this week.