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Kathmandu,Tuesday January 18, 2000 Magh 4th, 2056.
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Cabinet shake-up likely
today
-By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, Jan 17 Prime Minister Krishna
Prasad Bhattarai is considering adding some members to his cabinet, and upgrading the
level of some junior ministers, sources close to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)
said Monday.
The septuagenarian prime minister was
originally slated to announce the cabinet expansion today, but the plan has been put off
momentarily since he has yet to discuss it with Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad
Koirala, sources said.
The cabinet announcement, however, could
be made as early as tomorrow, sources add.
Bhattarai has already offered former
Speaker and Nepali Congress Central Working Committee member Ram Chandra Paudel the
position of Deputy Prime Minister. He also discussed giving Paudel the Home Ministry,
officials close to the PMO said.
Meanwhile, Bhattarai is also considering
upgrading the level of some assistant ministers to state ministers, sources said.
However, the cabinet expansion also has
its detractors. Former minister and CWC member Jayprakash Anand Gupta told The Kathmandu
Post that the proposed expansion “is against the spirit of the compromise reached
between the party president and the prime minister. At this time, there is no good enough
reason for expansion.”
The two leaders last month agreed to a
compromise which defused the tension between them. At the time, Koirala had demanded that
Bhattarai step down. However, the compromise gave the prime minister some more months to
continue in office, at least upto the end of the winter parliamentary session, sources
said at the time.
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