Karnali Appoints Fifth Chief Minister, Power Sharing Talks Ongoing

Surkhet. On Tuesday, Mangal Bahadur Shahi, leader of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) parliamentary party, was appointed as the fifth Chief Minister in Karnali. His oath-taking ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday. Shahi has been appointed Chief Minister with the support of UML, as per the agreement between UML and Nepali Communist Party in the center. Although appointed Chief Minister, the issue of 'power sharing' has not yet been finalized. According to sources from both parties, if an agreement is reached on 'power sharing', the cabinet will be expanded on Wednesday itself. However, some complications have arisen in 'power sharing'. The NCP, which has received the leadership of the government, has been discussing receiving the Chief Minister and three other ministries. This matter was discussed in the NCP parliamentary party meeting held on Tuesday afternoon. 'In terms of seat capacity, NCP has 14 and UML has 10, so the NCP should get three other ministries leaving the Chief Minister,' MPs said in the meeting, 'The party leader should convey the matter to the leaders of the coalition parties accordingly.' In the past, with an 8-member cabinet, the leading party would get the Chief Minister and three other ministries, while the supporting party would get four ministries. Thus, the distribution would be 4/4. However, currently, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law has been merged with the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers' office. In this situation, the total number of ministries remains 7. If the NCP takes the Chief Minister and three other ministries, UML will only get 3 ministries. However, UML has demanded that 'power sharing' should happen according to the past tradition. In the past, the supporting party used to get one more ministry than the party leading the government. UML has claimed all four ministries accordingly. This would mean NCP gets three ministries, including the Chief Minister and two others. Krishna Bahadur GC, Chief Whip of the NCP parliamentary party, said that discussions are ongoing between the two parties in a cordial manner. 'The full cabinet will be formed on Wednesday if possible,' he said, 'However, if there is a need for further discussion, some ministers may be appointed.' He stated that the NCP is not in a position to make big demands regarding 'power sharing'. According to him, the discussion is to distribute 3 ministries each besides the Chief Minister if possible. Otherwise, it can also be done according to the past tradition as UML wants. However, he said that this matter is being discussed between the party leaders of the two parties, so it will be easily resolved. Tekraj Panta, Chief Whip of the UML parliamentary party, said that UML should get four ministries according to the past tradition. 'Our point is to adopt the past tradition,' he said, 'because the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law has been merged with the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers' office, there is a lot of 'power' there.' However, he said that the responsibility to make all these decisions has been given to UML parliamentary party leader Yamla Kandel. 'All our responsibilities lie with the party leader, he must be talking to the coalition party,' he added. Panta also said that the cabinet will be fully formed on Wednesday if the 'power sharing' is agreed upon. However, he said that if it is not agreed upon, only 1 or 2 ministers will not be sent. The ministers will be decided only after the 'power sharing' is agreed upon. MPs are 'lobbying' for ministerial positions in their own ways. UML intends not to repeat those who were in the government under Kandel's leadership previously, if possible. However, the NCP is saying that ministers will be selected in an inclusive manner for a strong cabinet.