Cabinet Expansion

HIS Majesty the King expanded the Council of Ministers on the recommendation of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala in order to make the cabinet more effective to tackle the country’s problems and give the country a good and efficient administration. The Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Koirala had been constituted about eleven months ago, and the need for expansion had been felt for quite sometime. As the ruling Nepali Congress was engaged in its tenth general convention, the reshuffle and expansion of the cabinet had to be done after the general convention. The tenth general convention has reaffirmed its faith in Koirala’s leadership. The Prime Minister thought it necessary to expand the cabinet in order to accommodate all sections of the party and to maintain broader unity in the Nepali Congress. As the country is facing several burning problems an effective and full-fledged cabinet was necessary to tackle these problems. In the new cabinet some new faces have been inducted and others who successfully proved their worth have been promoted. This is an indication that Prime Minister Koirala is both firm and serious to tackle the country’s problems and give the country a good and effective government, which is also the mandate of the tenth general convention of the Nepali Congress. Now that the newly appointed Ministers have vowed to achieve maximum result, it is expected that the expansion of the cabinet would really prove its worth in solving the country’s problems. Right after assuming the office, Minister for Information and Communications Shiva Raj Joshi and Minister of State Pushkar Ojha said that cooperation and support were extremely necessary from all quarters in building public opinion for the consolidation of democracy in the country and in working for meeting the target set by the government. As a time when there are some elements who are active to defame and destabilise democracy in the country and are engaged in sabotage and violence, the ruling party needs to maintain an unprecedented unity and firmly engage in foiling the attempts of the ultra-rightist and ultra-leftist elements and expediting development activities in the country. On top of that it is equally necessary to take all opposition parties, which believe in multi-party democracy and the present constitution together in order to safeguard the democratic system and uplift the social and economic condition of the people. This is, perhaps, the most important responsibility of the government. The expansion of the cabinet also carries the same message. Thus, it is the duty of all political parties, social organisations and general people, to rise above petty individual and party interests and extend active cooperation to the present Council of Ministers to accomplish the difficult task of nation building.

Voice People’s Opinion

AS summoned by His Majesty the King, the 19th session of the parliament began yesterday (Thursday). According to a provision of the democratic Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990, the Parliament sits twice a year—in Summer and Winter. Generally the former session is known as the Budget session in which the parliamentarians minutely discuss over the different heads of the proposed budget and pass it. The Winter session meanwhile, is called the bill session, in which different laws are discussed and passed by the members of the Parliament. In the Budget session, passing bills is often difficult due to the lack of time to discuss them. So as far as the formulation of new laws are concerned, the importance of the winter session speaks for itself. However, there have been reports that our parliamentarians have overlooked such importance of the parliamentary session and often have met at the parliaments without adequate preparation to discuss the different bills that are presented. As a result, they can pass only very few bills or none at all in such an important session. Indeed, the primary focus of the parliament and its members should be in making essential laws and generally working for the welfare of the people.

As the current Winter session has begun just after a major reshuffle in the Council of Ministers, it can be hoped that the MPs of the ruling party won’t, like in the past, involve in such activities that weaken the hands of the majority government. Also the honourable MPs have sixteen bills that are already under consideration and some new ones to discuss and pass. Similarly, they have three ordinances concerning armed police force, regional administration and health services to discuss. As such the Nepalese people are expecting much from the present session which has been sitting at a time when they are reeling under various problems. The common people are hoping that the present session will find solutions for the deteriorating law and order situation of the country and curbing corruption. To materialise the expectations of the common people, all the political parties, whether they are in the Treasury benches or the Opposition, should cooperate. Similarly, the government too must fulfill the promises it has made by listening to the voice of the representatives of the people.