Top leaders of the ruling coalition met at Baluwatar Sunday morning.
Prime Minister (PM) Sher Bahadur Deuba talked with CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal and Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Chairmen Upendra Yadav and Baburam Bhattarai and others from 10-11 in the morning about expanding the Cabinet, extending the coalition for a long time and nullifying the ordinance making splitting of parties easier, according to JSP leader Mahendra Raya Yadav who participated in the meeting.
"The Cabinet will be expanded. The top leaders have the rights to decide about that," Yadav stated.
Deuba, who was appointed PM on July 13, has not been able to complete the Cabinet in more than two months and has inducted just three ministers from Nepali Congress (NC) and two from Maoist Center and a state minister from NC.
Deuba has not been able to expand the Cabinet due to differences in the ruling coalition about the ordinance making splitting of parties easier.
He was expected to expand it after September 7, the deadline the Election Commission gave to CPN-UML provincial lawmakers and local representatives to join CPN (Unified Socialist). But he has not been able to expand it after coalition partners CPN (Unified Socialist) and Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) took different stands on what to do about the ordinance.
Unified Socialist and JSP were not in favor of Cabinet expansion despite Deuba repeatedly urging the coalition partners to give him list of the ministers from the respective parties.
The government has registered a bill in the House to replace the ordinance. The ordinance allows split of a party with support of just 20 percent in either the central committee or parliamentary party. The act about political parties required support of 40 percent in both the parliamentary party and the central committee to split any political party.
Chairman of Unified Socialist Madhav Kumar Nepal wants the bill to be passed as it is without any amendment in the ordinance fearing any amendment can cause problem for his newly registered party. He is adamant that the bill should not be amended at least until the SC issues verdict on the case about split in UML.
JSP Chairman Upendra Yadav, on the other hand, insists that the bill should either be revoked or amended before Cabinet expansion pointing that there is danger of another split in the party if some leaders are not made ministers.
