Lieutenant General of Nepal Army Ashok Sigdel has been appointed as the acting chief of army staff (CoAS).
Reading out the Cabinet’s decisions, government spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung said on Wednesday that it has been decided to make Sigdel the acting army chief.
A Cabinet meeting held on Monday took the decision.
Army chief Prabhu Ram Sharma’s tenure ends on September 9. It is customary in the Nepal Army to go on leave a month before one’s tenure ends.
Sharma had accordingly sought leave from August 9. The Ministry of Defense has already approved his leave, the ministry’s spokesperson and Joint Secretary Manoj Kumar Acharya said.
According to Acharya, Sigdel had been proposed for acting army chief after the ministry approved Sharma’s leave.
Sigdel was certain to become army chief after the end of Sharma’s tenure.
He had, however, faced criticism over the controversy regarding his age.
But during a press conference organized on July 18, the army headquarters revealed the details on Sigdel’s citizenship certificate and its copy, and in the school and college where he studied. It clarified that there was no controversy regarding his age.
The controversy surrounding Sigdel’s age had surfaced when he was promoted to lieutenant general from major general. But the Ministry of Defense had moved ahead with his promotion after conducting an internal inquiry into the issue.
According to the Army Act, 2006, the army chief can hold office until the age of 61 years and their tenure will be three years.
