Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba has agreed to give three ministers and a state minister to the faction of Shekhar Koirala.
The ruling coalition had decided to give eight ministries to the grand old party in the Cabinet of Prime Minister (PM) Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
Deuba sent four ministers from his faction led by Purna Bahadur Khadka as deputy PM and defense minister when PM Dahal expanded the Cabinet on March 31. Prakash Sharan Mahat (Finance), Ramesh Rijal (Industry) and Sita Gurung (Urban Development) were the other ministers from NC.
NC has not been able to finalize the name of the remaining four ministers with the Koirala faction refusing to give names if it were not given at least three ministers.
Deuba has now asked the Koirala faction to pick three ministers and a state minister.
The faction held a meeting at Koirala’s secretariat Thursday morning where the leaders agreed to pick the ministers as per the standard set by the central working committee to send at least one minister from each of the seven provinces.
“We took a stand demanding at least three ministers from the anti-establishment faction when NC got eight ministries. The party now looks set to get nine ministers and a state minister after Janamat Party doesn’t seem likely to join the government,” a lawmaker who attended the meeting told Setopati. “We will pick three ministers and a state minister and give the names to president.”
Janamat Party left the government after not getting the Ministry of Commerce, Supply and Industry. Abdul Khan, who was overseeing the Ministry of Water Supply, resigned just before PM Dahal expanded the Cabinet on March 31.
