CPN Chairmen KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal have failed to agree on Cabinet reshuffle even on Monday.
A party source confided that there was no progress and Prime Minister (PM) Oli and Dahal failed to reach any conclusion even during their meeting at Baluwatar on Monday. They had also met on Sunday.
PM Oli wants to reshuffle the Cabinet soon. A standing committee member close to Oli had told Setopati on Sunday that it will be done in a couple of days.
The main sticking point between the two chairmen is that Dahal wants some ministers to be removed and new ones appointed while Oli wants to continue all the existing ones and induct six new ministers filling the three currently vacant ministries and creating three new ministries by splitting the current ones.
The party source claimed that Dahal wants to make CPN Vice-chairman Bam Dev Gautam, who has recently been appointed National Assembly member, a minister even as a petition about his appointment to the Upper House is sub judice in the Supreme Court. But Oli doesn't and wants to carry out Cabinet reshuffle now without inducting Gautam when the case against him is sub judice.
Dahal and senior leaders Jhala Nath Khanal and Madhav Kumar Nepal all want Gautam to be made minister and demand that Cabinet be reshuffled only after the court order.
The chairmen also disagree on sharing of the ministries among the erstwhile Maoists and CPN-UML. Dahal demands that the former Maoists should get at least 10 ministries if the number of ministries were increased to 24. There are currently seven ministers from the erstwhile Maoists.
A leader close to Dahal stated that the Cabinet will be reshuffled immediately after PM Oli agrees to fire some current ministers. "All alternatives have been discussed. Many things have yet to emerge as the discussion was held only between the two chairmen," the leader added.
