A fresh debate has arisen about whether Minister Kulman Ghising can remain in the government after becoming a vice-president of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).
Some argue that since the current government is a non-partisan body formed solely to conduct elections, Ghising must resign from his ministerial post after joining a political party.
Prime Minister Karki also faces questions regarding whether she should remove Ghising now that he has entered party politics.
According to a source close to the prime minister, Ghising had planned to submit his resignation to PM Karki before attending the assembly held to announce the formation of Ujyaalo Nepal Party. However, PM Karki insisted that she would only allow him to leave after he completed certain remaining tasks.
While Ghising was only a patron of the Ujyaalo Nepal Party and held no official position there, he has now signed an agreement to serve as a vice-president of the RSP.
The source close to the prime minister said that there has been no discussion regarding him leaving the government.
"It was known right when he joined the government that Kulman ji would run in the election. He was appointed for a short period. The prime minister stopped him when he offered to resign a month ago. But there has been no conversation [about resignation] right now," the source said.
According to the source, anticipating Ghising's eventual exit, the prime minister had kept the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with herself to facilitate bringing in another minister in his place. Recently, former lieutenant general Balananda Sharma was appointed as the foreign minister.
Meanwhile, a source close to Ghising said that there has not been much discussion regarding his resignation recently.
"When he spoke of resigning earlier, the prime minister stopped him, saying it wouldn't make a difference. As of now, there has been no talk of resignation," the source said.
