Nepali Congress (NC) President and Prime Minister (PM) Sher Bahadur Deuba has called meeting of office-bearers Wednesday afternoon to discuss selection of foreign minister and preparations for the party's upcoming general convention.
The ruling coalition on Tuesday agreed to appoint foreign minister from NC. Deuba wants to appoint the foreign minister and get the minister sworn in Wednesday itself.
Deuba wants to appoint Narayan Khadka, who heads the foreign affairs department in the party, as foreign minister but the faction of Senior Leader Ram Chandra Paudel has been demanding that decision on that be taken only after discussion in the party.
Both the ministers appointed from NC—Bal Krishna Khand and Gyanendra Bahadur Karki—and state minister Umesh Shrestha are from Deuba faction and his plan to appoint Khadka, also from his faction, as foreign minister has been opposed inside the party.
Sujata Koirala, from the Paudel faction, is also an aspirant for the post and the Paudel faction has been demanding serious discussion inside the party while appointing ministers in important ministries to maintain power balance inside the party.
Minendra Rijal from the Paudel faction is also rumored to be in contention for the post while there is also speculation that Deuba may transfer Law Minister Karki to the Foreign Ministry.
The Paudel faction is also preparing to hold a separate discussion before the meeting of office-bearers.
