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A Mini-cabinet In Making
By KTM Metro Reporter
February 10, 2011: Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal has formed a mini-cabinet of four ministers including himself today. He has sworn in Bharat Mohan Adhikari as the deputy prime minister, Gangalal Tuladhar and Bishnu Poudel as ministers without portfolios.
We are anticipating that Mr. Khanal will refrain from committing the same mistakes his predecessor highly tainted Madhav Nepal has committed appointing the people defeated in the elections, to ministers as if he does not find any able persons in his party.
Bharat Mohan Adhikari is another man defeated in the election and does not deserve to be the minister. Similarly, Mr. Tuladhar also a defeated man. However, Mr. Khanal has appointed Adhikari to the deputy prime minister and Mr. Tuladhar to a minister without portfolio. This is the signal Mr. Khanal has given to the Nepalis that his cabinet will not be much different from his predecessor’s.
Obviously, he has not kept his words given to his counterpart in the UCPN-Maoist thus making difficult to form a new cabinet. Mr. Khanal has many rivals waiting for taking his job. So, if he wants to keep the job he needs to go along with the UCPN-Maoist and form a cabinet that reflects the commitment he has made to the UCPN-Maoist, and complete the peace process and the writing of a new constitution as soonest possible.
Mr. Khanal has no time to linger over forming a new cabinet. He has formed a mini-cabinet just to make him formally possible to address the parliament today. He has already held the election to a new prime minister hostage for eight months but he should not hold the formation of a new cabinet hostage again.
Speaking at the parliament today, Prime Minister Khanal has said that his government will achieve the goals of concluding the peace process and writing a new constitution on time. He has said that the latest seven-point deal CPN-UML has reached with UCPN-Maoist will assist in completing the peace process.
Speaking at the parliament, NC Parliament Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel has accused the CPN-UML and UCPN-Maoist of violating the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) reaching the seven-point deal. Following the deal, if they set up a separate security force of the Maoist combatants then it surely goes against the CPA.
Vice-chairman of UCPN-Maoist Narayankaji Shrestha has said that his party has not joined the government because the CPN-UML has been reluctance to endorse the seven-point deal; however his party will not withdraw its support for the government.
The Maoists have clearly stated that they will not join the cabinet of Khanal until he clarifies whether he will follow the deal he has reached with them in the spirit and intent. They have also charged Khanal with not following the agreement on the allocation of ministerial portfolios making them deeply concerned with.
Chief of the Foreign Department of UCPN-Maoist Krishna Bahadur Mahara has also said that his party will join the new government only after the CPN-UML endorses the seven-point deal his party and the CPN-UML have reached.
The first meeting of the newly formed cabinet held soon after the sworn-in ceremony has appointed Minister-without-portfolio Gangalal Tuladhar to the spokesperson for the government.
