Complication mars SEBON chair selection

Kathmandu: There have been a lot of complications with the selection process for the chairman of the Nepal Securities Board (SEBON). Three of the five shortlisted candidates neglected to attend their interviews on multiple occasions, which increased ambiguity regarding the next steps in the selection procedure.

The 'Nepal Securities Board Chairman Selection and Recommendation Committee' has been urged by the Office of the Attorney General to either suggest three names from the shortlist plus one more candidate, or to terminate the chairmanship process altogether.

The three-person committee, led by Meen Bahadur Shrestha, invited each of the five shortlisted applicants for presentations and interviews on Sunday. However, only Santosh Narayan Shrestha and Muktinath Shrestha attended, while Chiranjeevi Chapagain, Krishna Bahadur Karki, and Dr. Navraj Adhikari did not participate.

The committee arranged for a re-negotiation with the three absent candidates for Wednesday after the majority of candidates withdrew on Sunday. Once more, not a single candidate showed up for the interview.

The committee asked the Attorney General's office for advice on what to do next in light of this impasse. Two solutions have been presented by the Attorney General's office, according to sources. First, the committee may suggest to the Council of Ministers the names of the final three candidates for the position of chairman in line with Section 7(4) of the Securities Act 2063. On the other hand, they could decide to abandon the current procedure and start over, which would increase ambiguity over the SEBON president selection process.