KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 28
President Bidhya Devi Bhandari has assigned eight more ministries to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
On the recommendation of PM Dahal, President Bhandari assigned the responsibility of these ministries to the prime minister.
With the resignation of CPN-UML ministers, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has taken charge of eight more ministries.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel; Agriculture and Livestock Development Minister Jwala Kumari Sah; Industry, Commerce and Supplies Minister Damodar Bhandari; Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Minister Rajendra Kumar Rai; Foreign Minister Dr Bimala Rai Poudyal; Health and Population Minister Padam Giri, Women, Children and Senior Citizens Minister Bhagwati Chaudhary; and Defence Minister Hari Prasad Upreti have resigned. The ministerial portfolios held by them have fallen on the shoulders of Prime Minister Dahal.
With three major parties pulling out of the government, breaking the seven-party ruling coalition formed on December 25, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is now preparing to reshuffle his Cabinet to fill as many as 16 vacant ministries.
President Bidhya Devi Bhandari today assigned eight more ministries to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
The secretariat meeting of UML held yesterday took the decision to withdraw support to the government and also break the alliance.
The UML had already recalled the ministers for holding the Finance, Agriculture, Industry, Land Management, Health, Defence, Foreign Affairs and Women and Children ministries. Prime Minister Dahal is now in charge of the vacant ministries.
Earlier, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party also decided to leave the government. Ministers have withdrawn as RPP had taken over the Ministry of Energy, Urban Development and Law.
Rastriya Swatantra Party led by Rabi Lamichhane also left the government. Lamichhane's citizenship was revoked by the Supreme Court. After that, he resigned as home minister.
Prime Minister Dahal has also been handling the responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Also, the RSP recalled ministers from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Labour, Employment and Social Security.
The support given by RSP to the government is still maintained.
Prime Minister Dahal kept the Ministry of Forest and Environment and the Ministry of Youth and Sports with him when he expanded the Council of Ministers on January 17. Although the ministry was kept vacant by giving it to Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal, the JSP-N did not participate in the government. Last Friday, an agreement was reached between eight parties to support the Nepali Congress in the presidential election.
Prime Minister Dahal is likely to expand the Cabinet by including the parties in the newly formed alliance.
There is also a possibility that he will appoint Congress and other parties' MPs as ministers in the government with or without a vote of confidence. The Prime Minister's Secretariat has said that according to the constitutional provision, the prime minister will take the vote of confidence soon.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 1, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
