Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli appointments five new cabinet ministers following mass resignation

In a major reshuffle, Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli inducted five new ministers in his cabinet on Friday, December 25. This comes after a total of seven ministers resigned from his cabinet voicing disappointments at the PM’s decision to dissolve the parliament. Earlier this year, one member of Oli’s cabinet already resigned owing to differences with the leadership.

As per Nepal’s constitution, the Prime Minister is allowed to form a Cabinet with a total of 25 members. Despite five new appointments, Oli is still tasked with making another eight appointments, one of them being the defence minister.

"There have been no talks about new defence minister to be inducted into the cabinet. Oli is looking for more suitable and trustworthy candidates for remaining vacant positions on board," a source familiar with the development told ANI.

Read: Nepal President Ratifies Parliament Dissolution, Announces Dates For Polls Next Year

New Appointments

Announcing the latest appointments, Ramsharan Bajgain, Press Advisor to Oli said that Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Prabhu Sah, Mani Thapa, Dawa Lama and Gauri Shankar Chaudhary have been named as new members of the Nepali cabinet. 

Speaking to ANI, Bajgain added, "Rayamajhi has been appointed as Minister for Energy, Sah as Minister for Labor and Employment, Thapa as Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Lama as Minister for Education and Chaudhary as Minister for Drinking Water." 

Read: Nepal PM Rejects Ruling Party's Decision To Take Disciplinary Action Against Him

Nepali President Bidhya Devi Bhandari ratified Oli's proposal last week and announced dates for the elections to be held next year. Bhandari announced the date of the national polls to be held in two phases on April 30 and May 10 in 2021. Oli also met with Chief Election Commissioner and other officials in Kathmandu after the president gave formal consent to dissolve the House. 

The recent move comes after Oli had called an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers after a series of meetings with the party’s leadership and ministers on December 19. The Nepali leader was under pressure to withdraw an ordinance related to the Constitutional Council Act that he had issued earlier and got endorsed by the president the same day. On December 20, Oli again called an emergency meeting with the Cabinet and announced that he was going to recommend the House dissolution to the parliament. 

Read: Constitutional Bench To Hear Petitions Challenging Nepal PM Oli’s Move To Dissolve Parliament

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