Prachanda mulls cabinet reshuffle

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has started consultations among the ruling parties on the issue of cabinet reshuffle. The government has held consultations with the ruling parties on the issue of reconstituting the Council of Ministers, including the Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP) and the Janamat Party (JP), which have given a vote of confidence to the government.

Prachanda has been holding regular meetings with UML Chairman KP Oli and Unified Socialist Chairman Madhav Nepal for the past few days. "During the meeting, Prime Minister Prachanda discussed the restructuring of the cabinet, formation of Madhes government, and the expansion of SudurPaschim provincial government" informed Mahesh Bartaula, UML chief whip.

Bartaula informed that despite continuous discussions among the top leaders on all these issues, no conclusion has been reached. "The parties that supported the government are taking the initiative to bring Nagarik Unmukti and Janamt Party into the government."

Bartaula said there was no agreement on which ministries would be given to Nagarik Unmukti and Janamat Party. He said that a conclusion would be reached after reaching a consensus on the formation of the Madhesh government.

To reach a consensus on the issue, Prachanda on Friday held discussions with the ruling parties - Chairman of UML Oli, Chairman of Unified Socialist Nepal and Chairman of Nagarik Unmukti Ranjita Shrestha. On Sunday and Monday, he continued his dialogues with Oli and Nepal.

Prachanda held separate meetings with Oli and Nepal. In the morning, Prachanda had one-on-one meeting with Madhav Nepal which was followed by a joint meeting with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, UML chieftain Oli and Unified Socialist Chair Madhav Nepal at the Prime Minister's residence in Baluwatar.

The meeting with Deuba was a 'courtesy call' said UML chief whip Bartaula. Bartaula said that discussions were held to forge consensus regarding the Terms Of Reference (TOR) of the investigation committee formed to probe the embezzlement made in Cooperatives and to make the atmosphere of the parliament harmonious.

Preparing for a meeting of the executive

At the same time, Chairman Prachanda is preparing to call a meeting of the office bearers to discuss the recall of the Maoist party's ministers. Although the coalition parties seemed positive about bringing Nagarik Unmukti and Janamat to the government by giving them one ministry each, none of the coalition partners seem ready to leave their respective ministerial berth.

Chief Secretary of the Maoist Central Office, Shriram Dhakal, informed that if the coalition partners are not ready to leave the ministry, it is being discussed whether to call back one of the Maoist ministers or to call back all the ministers except the Finance Minister. However, they are unable to come to a conclusion.

"The issue is whether to call back a minister or reshuffle the cabinet in its entirety. No conclusion has been reached. The decision will be taken by the executive committee. "The issue of cabinet reshuffle can only be resolved through discussions among the coalition partners," Dhakal added.

Deputy General Secretary of UCPN Maoist, Shakti Basnet, who also holds the energy ministry in the cabinet said, "there was no discussion within the party about the recall of the ministers. The necessary decisions will be taken by the office bearers' meeting."

Secretary of UCPN Maoist Dinanath Sharma pointed out that the cabinet would not be reconstituted immediately as the issue of recalling the minister was in the process of being resolved. He said that a decision on bringing Nagarik Unmukti and Janamat party into the government will be taken only after a consensus is reached among the coalition parties.

"Discussions are going on among the power-sharing parties about the recall of the ministers. No conclusion has been reached," Sharma said. He added that a conclusion will be reached after agreeing on the formation of the Madhes government. The meeting will decide on whom to recall among the  ministers from the Maoists. "

At present, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayankaji Shrestha, Finance Minister Barshaman Pun, Energy Minister Shakti Basnet, Communications Minister Rekha Sharma and Tourism Minister Hit Bahadur Tamang are in the government from the Maoists. Apart from Pun and Tamang, all others were ministers in the previous cabinet as well.

Nagarik Unmukti Chair, Ranjita Shrestha, who called on the Prime Minister on Friday on the issue of joining the government, said there was no confusion about the ministry. I had a meeting with the Prime Minister two days ago on joining the government. Which ministry we are getting does not matter at all, It could be any ministry," she said.

Shrestha said that she will join the government in a week as efforts are underway to reach a consensus among the parties involved in the government on issues including Madhesh and SudurPaschim.

"Won't join the federal government unless we get Madhesh Province Chief Minister"

Senior Vice President Deepak Sah said that Janamat Party, which claimed the leadership of Madhesh Province, would not go to the federal government until its demands were addressed.

 "Our main focus is on the leadership of the Madhes government. Madhesh is in the process of forming a government. We have no plans to go to the federal government immediately," Sah said, adding, "We will not join the federal government without getting the leadership of the Madhesh government."

Both Nagarik Unmukti and Janamat Party were in the previous government. The former, including UML, had left the government after the changed equation in the parliamenmt. Both the parties had given a vote of confidence to the Prime Minister on July 7.

The Unified Socialist adamant on finding consensus on the Package

The discussions have been inconclusive as the Unified Socialist, the decisive party in the formation of the provincial government, has sought consensus on the overall package. Chief Minister of Madhesh Saroj Kumar Yadav is preparing to take a vote of confidence. Unified Socialist's support to the Yadav government is still intact.

 Unified Socialist has wanted an agreement in package regarding the power sharing deals and political appointment including the expansion of the SudurPaschim government. UML and UCPN Maoist have not joined the SudurPaschim government although both of them had given the vote of confidence to Dirgha Sodari government.