Nepal PM Prachanda to reshuffle Cabinet after three allies pull out: Report

Communist Party of Nepal-UML – on Monday withdrew its support for the Prachanda-led government after a row over backing the Nepali Congress candidate for the presidential election

PTI, KATHMANDU, 28 FEBRUARY 2023 :Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda is preparing a cabinet reshuffle to fill up to 16 ministries, which fell vacant after three political parties walked out of his government, as part of his efforts to preserve the fragile newly formed alliance, according to The Guardian. Media report on Tuesday.

The second-largest party in Nepal’s parliament – the Communist Party of Nepal-UML – on Monday withdrew its support for the Prachanda-led government after a row over backing the Nepali Congress candidate for the presidential election plunged the Himalayan nation into another wave of political instability. .

The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) also resigned from the government. The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) also withdrew its ministers from the government. However, it will continue to support the government from abroad.

With three major parties withdrawing from the government, the seven-party ruling coalition disintegrated.

The newspaper said Prachanda has now cooperated with the Nepali Congress and six other parties and wants a new power-sharing agreement as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the Janamat Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party and Janata Samajbadi Party abandoned the previous alliance and joined the new coalition led by the Nepali Congress and the Maoist centre. The leaders said the prime minister would have difficulty sharing powers among the eight parties.

The prime minister, who believes expanding the cabinet could help keep the coalition intact and garner support for the presidential elections scheduled for March 9, is preparing to start discussions to fill vacancies in the cabinet from Tuesday, the newspaper said.

“Although the meeting of the new coalition is yet to be decided, I think the discussions will start from tomorrow,” said Jagannath Khatiwada, a spokesperson for the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist), one of the components of the new coalition. “We didn’t expect UML to quit so soon. Now things may move quickly.”

Prime Minister Manahari Temelsina, media expert, said the ruling parties are expected to discuss the allocation of ministerial portfolios within a day or two, as ministries cannot remain vacant for a long time.

In the previous cabinet, the Janamat party was dissatisfied with its leaders not getting the required cabinet, the Janata Samajbadi party opted out of the government after failing to get the required ministries while the Nagarik Unmukti party refused to join the cabinet because its demands were not met.

The decision of the Marxist-Leninist party on Monday to withdraw from the government helped the prime minister in selecting ministers from the newly formed coalition partners.

On Monday, all eight ministers from the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party submitted their resignations to the prime minister, while on Sunday four ministers from the People’s Progressive Party did so.

According to leaders familiar with the development, the Nepali Congress Party, the largest party in Parliament, could vacate the ministries by the UML, while the Maoist center wants to keep the Home Ministry for itself. The ministry was vacant after the resignation of Rabi Lamichan, the head of the Rastriya Swatantra party, following the Supreme Court’s decision on his nationality. The three remaining ministers in the Socialist Reform Party had resigned after the Prime Minister refused to grant the Ministry of the Interior to his party.

The Nepali Congress leaders said that in the first phase, only a few ministers may be chosen from among the coalition partners in order to build trust between them before the presidential elections, and the cabinet will not be fully formed until later.

“There could be discussion in the new coalition to send one or two ministers from the partner parties to the government so that some confidence can be built before the presidential elections,” said Jagan Thapa, the Nepali Congress general secretary.

After two major parties supporting the government decided to withdraw their support, the government led by Prachanda will have to seek a vote of confidence in accordance with the constitution.

In the 275-member House of Representatives, the UML party has 79 legislators while the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) has 32 members. Janamat Party has 6 members, Loktantrik Samajabadi Party 4 and Nagarik Onmukti Party 3 members in Parliament.

Prachanda needs 138 votes in Parliament to continue as Chief Minister.

With the three main parties, the Communist Party of Nepal (89), CPN-Maoist Center (32) and the Socialist Revolutionary Party (20), Prachanda has the support of no less than 141 legislators.

The UML will now act as the main opposition party, paving the way for the Constitutional Council to resume its work.