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Kathmandu Friday October 19, 2001 Kartik 03, 2058.
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Deuba expands cabinet,
massively
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Oct 18 – Prime Minister Sher
Bahadur Deuba today inducted 28 new members in his Council of Ministers, a move analysts
here say is designed to shore up his support within the governing Nepali Congress party.
The number of cabinet rank and junior ministers
now stands at 41, making Deuba II look a lot more like Deuba I. While prime minister for
the first time in 1995-97, Deuba established a record for assembling the largest number of
ministers ever in this impoverished country: 48. But at the time, his was a coalition
government made of other parties.
The expansion of the Council of Ministers today
underscores the fact that the latest Deuba government is still, in essence, a coalition
one in which the Prime Minister is compelled to dole out ministerial berths to key
legislators within his party to retain their support.
Deuba was under pressure from his camp to expand
his Council of Ministers with those close to him in retaliation of party President G P
Koirala’s move of filling the Central Working Committee with his close supporters in
the last expansion.
While retaining all the members of his Cabinet
when he became the Prime Minister after his predecessor Koirala resigned, Deuba has
inducted 17 totally new ministers. Two of them are Cabinet ministers, nine Ministers of
State and six Assistant Ministers.
The governing Nepali Congress General Secretary,
Sushil Koirala, partially criticised Deuba’s exercise today. "Although it is a
prime minister’s privilege to expand his Cabinet, he could have chosen a small but
effective team. The size of this Council is too big," said Koirala.
He added that he had suggested Deuba to chose a
small team of ministers.
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