Kathmandu: According to a media report, Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda is prepared to restructure his cabinet in an effort to maintain the newly established unstable coalition. This includes filling up 16 vacant ministries that resulted from three political parties leaving his government.
Following a disagreement over supporting the Nepali Congress' candidate for the presidential election, the second-largest party in parliament, CPNUML, withdrew its support for the "Prachanda"-led administration, sending the country into yet another period of political unrest.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has also quit the government. Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has also withdrawn its ministers from the government. However, it would keep supporting the government from the outside. With three major parties pulling out, the seven-party ruling coalition has disintegrated.
According to the newspaper, Prachanda has now allied himself with the Nepali Congress and six other parties and demands a new power-sharing agreement as soon as possible. As this was going on, the Janamat Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party, and Janata Samajbadi Party left the old coalition and joined the Maoist Centre and Nepali Congress' new one. The eight parties will be difficult for the prime minister to divide, according to the leaders.
Thinking that cabinet expansion could help keep the coalition intact and garner support for the presidential polls scheduled for March 9, the PM is preparing to start discussions to fill vacant cabinet positions, the newspaper said. Manahari Timilsina, the media expert to the PM, said the ruling parties are expected to discuss the allocation of ministerial portfolios within a day or two.