by Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post, Aug 13, 2023
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is preparing to bring the CK Raut-led Janamat Party back to his Cabinet. Dahal is likely to induct a Janamat minister in the government by Sunday evening, said Ramesh Malla, personal secretary to the prime minister.
The prime minister has been talking to some ministers from his party to convince one of them to make way for the new minister, Malla said.
This will be the eleventh reshuffle in Dahal’s Cabinet since he became prime minister on December 25 last year.
This will be the second time Janamat joins the government. The party’s Abdul Khan was appointed minister of water supply in the last week of January. He, however, stepped down within two months after his party expressed dissatisfaction with the prime minister, saying that it was not given the ministries that it demanded. The party, however, hadn’t withdrawn its support to the government.
Malla said the prime minister will decide by Sunday morning who among the Maoist ministers will resign and appoint a Janamat lawmaker. The party has already decided to send Anita Devi Sah to the government.
The prime minister is holding talks with Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Aman Lal Modi, asking him to resign, officials at Modi’s secretariat said.
Dahal has also reached out to Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati, asking him to step down, according to Maoist party sources. The prime minister has pledged that the minister who opts to resign will be rewarded with a ministerial position later, sources said.
Some key leaders of the party have requested Dahal not to recall Kirati, defending his performance as minister.
But during informal meetings with party leaders, Modi argues that the prime minister shouldn’t recall him as he solely represents the Tharu community in the Cabinet.
Janamat leaders said they are not rigid about the ministry this time and they would accept whichever ministry the prime minister offers them.
“We have heard that the prime minister is preparing to give us the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, though it is yet to be fixed,” said Sharad Singh Yadav, spokesperson for the Janamat Party. “Whichever ministry we get, we will run it more effectively than any other party.”
Yadav said his party’s chair will hold talks with the prime minister on Sunday morning to decide the matter.
It’s been more than three weeks since the Janamat Party recommended Sah as a minister. The reshuffle was postponed as Dahal was in mourning following his wife’s demise.
https://kathmandupost.com/politics/2023/08/13/dahal-preparing-to-recall-a-maoist-minister-to-bring-janamat-party-back-to-the-cabinet
