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Know your Ministers

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0849c7e80680e0d703ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1536" height="640"/><figcaption>Photo: RSS</figcaption></figure>Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal added 12 new ministers and three new state ministers and one deputy prime minister to his Council of Ministers on Tuesday, ending weeks of haggling with not just his seven coalition partners, but also the Nepali Congress which wanted a quid-pro-quo for its support of the government in Parliament.The country now has four Deputy Prime Ministers: UML lawmaker and Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel, senior Maoist Centre leader and Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chair and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, and newly-appointed Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Rajendra Lingden of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).The Prime Minister has filled 23 cabinet positions, but he has retained the Ministry of Forests and Environment as well as the Ministry of Youth and Sports for himself for now. Of the 23, 16 are first-time ministers.The UML, which wooed Dahal away from his alliance with the NC last month now has eight ministers. They include Finance Minister Poudel, National Assembly member and Foreign Affairs Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal, Health Minister Padam Giri, Defence Minister Hari Prasad Upreti, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Development Jwala Kumari Sah, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Damodar Bhandari, Minister of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Rajendra Kumar Rai and Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens Bhagwati Chaudhary.The Maoist Centre has six cabinet members including Prime Minister Dahal and Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Shrestha, Communication Minister Rekha Sharma, Tourism Minister Sudan Kirati, Federal Affairs and General Administration Minister Aman Lal Modi and Sushila Sirpali Thakuri, who was appointed the State Minister for Tourism.The RSP’s Rabi Lamichhane was already Home Minister, and has added lawmakers Dol Prasad Aryal, Shishir Khanal, and Toshima Karki as Labour Minister, Education Minister, and State Minister for Health respectively.RPP chair Rajendra Lingden is Energy Minister, while his party’s Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan is Law Minister, Bikram Pandey is Minister for Urban Development, and Dipak Bahadur Singh is the State Minister of Energy.As soon as the new Cabinet positions were announced, however, there was outrage from commentators and discontent within Dahal’s seven-party governing alliance.Janamat received just one portfolio, with its lawmaker Abdul Khan appointed the Minister of Water Supply. However, Khan refused to take the oath of office on Tuesday over his party’s dissatisfaction with having been denied the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies as previously promised by Dahal.Meanwhile, the JSP also refused to take offered ministerial positions over the distribution of cabinet as well as constitutional appointments. The party had wanted three ministerial portfolios, including the Ministry of Urban Development.From the general public there was serious concern about conflict of interest of the new appointees. For example, RPP lawmaker Bikram Pandey, the newly-inducted Minister of Urban Development, is Chairman and Managing Director of Kalika Construction, which has several ongoing government infrastructure contracts. Pandey had been accused of corruption, and was subsequently acquitted.New Labour Minister Dol Prasad Aryal from the RSP is the International Marketing Director at Shristi Overseas Employment Services, a recruitment agency. The agency was among 41 manpower companies to be investigated for illegal acquisition of wealth by the Department of Money Laundering Investigation in 2020. Aryal is also listed as the CEO and director of the money transfer service Easylink Remittance.These questions are being asked even before the controversy surrounding Rabi Lamichhane’s earlier appointment as Home Minister had died down. He was appointed home minister and deputy prime minister even as he was being investigated over his Nepali and US citizenship.Tv personality Vijay Kumar Panday took to social media to criticise the media for raising concerns about conflict of interest. He wrote:‘Before raising the question of conflict of interest in appointing new ministers, owners and editors of Nepal’s media organisations should answer — how many media company owners are involved in other fields of business, and is it not a conflict of interest for such media to report on those businesses?’On Tuesday, the Prime Minister presided over an all-party meeting called to express his gratitude to Nepal’s top political leadership for giving him the vote of confidence. NC chair Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-Unified Socialist chair Madhav Kumar Nepal were also present.During the meeting floated the possibility of giving the NC constitutional appointments, to the displeasure of coalition leaders, who maintained that the alliance had already come to an agreement over the positions of President, Vice-president, House Speaker, and Deputy Speaker. The seven-party coalition had previously decided to give the post of president and speaker to the UML, deputy speaker to RSP and vice-president to the Maoist Centre.Oli walked out of the meeting shortly after Dahal called for consensus over constitutional appointments.For his part, Deuba said coyly that his party was “open to receiving” constitutional positions. The NC’s Ramesh Lekhak said: “We are ready to discuss the matter of constitutional appointments from our position as an objective opposition with a duty to defend the Constitution.”Parliament is is session on Thursday for the appointment of a new House Speaker. On Wednesday morning, a meeting of top UML leadership at K P Oli's residence in Balkot finalised senior leader Devraj Ghimire as the candidate of the Speaker.Meanwhile, the NC has also decided to field lawmaker Ishwari Devi Neupane as its party’s candidate for Speaker following a meeting of the top leadership at Dhumbarahi on Wednesday morning.The party decided on a candidate after holding talks with the Prime Minister as well as other parties not in government.Candidates will need a simple majority of 138 votes to be elected speaker.The big question now is which of the two parties will get to appoint the new president to succeed Bidya Devi Bhandari, who was nominated by the UML after 2017.

Shristi Karki

Conflicting interests

Samsung Nepal has opened pre-orders for the Galaxy A57 5G and A37 5G. Both phones run Samsung’s One UI 8.5, featuring AI capabilities like voice transcription, Circle to Search, and photo editing. They feature a 50MP triple-camera system, a Super AMOLED display, and six years of OS and security updates.

Galaxy A series

‘One early morning, we heard the ambassador’s wife cry out, “Ram, Ram, Ram!” A disaster has befallen Nepal!” She had heard on the radio that a fire had consumed Singha Durbar." This is not about the arson attack on 9 September 2025, but the one on 8 July, 1973. It started in the South Wing of the then single-largest building in all of Nepal. It took two days to bring the blaze under control, requiring the use of explosives to demolish one wing to protect the imposing western facade. As Bhekh Bahadur Thapa recalls in the English translation of his memoir A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy, he was then on leave from the Nepal government serving with the IDRC in Ottawa.&nbsp; He had already served as Nepal’s Finance Secretary at age 25, went on to be Finance Minister and Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank. He was already younger than some of the GenZ ministers in Nepal’s present RSP government. Thapa, now 89, was at the launch of the book in February which was attended by former diplomats and bureaucrats. After speeches by panelists, there was a question from the audience about how Thapa had managed to be the diplomat he was, managing Nepal’s international relations on the world stage.&nbsp; Writer and journalist Akhilesh Upadhyay, who was moderating the panel, responded by going into the section of the book where we see Thapa as an ambassador to the US, playing tennis with White House officials, cultivating a network of contacts to project the identity and welfare of Nepal, and making it possible for a state visit by King Birendra to Ronald Reagan’s America. The book is full of anecdotes that suggest Thapa was a clever and strategic diplomat, always calm and unruffled, easily making friends in high places with his maturity and engaging sense of humour. Thapa’s memoir is heavy on details about Nepal’s administrative history during the years he was active in public service, serving as minister and ambassador under three kings: Mahendra, Birendra and Gyanendra, and alongside five prime ministers.&nbsp; Aside from an insider look on how certain treaties, development deals and research projects in Nepal came into fruition, Thapa goes into great detail about his personal and professional relationships with the kings, ministers, ambassadors, foreign leaders and politicians.&nbsp; As a reader, one is struck by the level of detail around the events that unfolded in Nepal over the years during Thapa’s tenure. Was Thapa recording a journal over the years of the events and the conversations that transpired, or were they committed to his phenomenal memory? Either way, the reader gets a glimpse of Nepal’s recent history from the early days of the Panchayat, through the People’s Movement and the democracy period, the Maoist insurgency, Royal Palace massacre of 2001, and Gyanendra’s coup of 2005.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1584" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How to win friends and influence nations NT"> </figure>  Not enough is said about the political parties of the time whose presence led to the way Nepal’s multiparty democracy came to be shaped. The book keeps its focus on the administration and the key figures around it, mostly those in the Panchayat era. Towards the second half of the book, we do start to hear about political parties, but not in great depth. Another figure whose presence in the book is conspicuously less prominent is that of his wife, Rita Thapa — the person who seems to have rescued him every time financial quandary or family care became a challenge. Yet, we do not see her as a full person. Perhaps because of the personal tragedies in his life, the children are also barely mentioned.&nbsp; The book is therefore less personal and more technical. Throughout, we learn about Thapa’s thinking as he navigated the world of diplomacy to win him the trust of those who mattered. There are tips here for a new generation of Nepali officials and diplomats about how much commitment and focus is needed to be good at one’s job and serve the national interest. This book adds to tomes that have been written on Nepal’s fragile relationship with India. ‘India has always wished for Nepal to remain dependent on it,’ writes Thapa, who served as Nepal’s ambassador to India and later in the Eminent Persons Group &nbsp;on Indo-Nepal relations that has been allowed to languish. The book has several insights into the Indo-Nepal trysts with diplomacy and agency.&nbsp; China’s role is also recorded, viewed through conversations during a visit to Beijing, but all that was before Nepal’s neighbour to the north emerged as a world economic and military power. The book also has such sudden instances of quirkiness and humour. For instance, we see a young Thapa in America explaining to a government official why he would like to return to Nepal instead of settling down in the US. “Because, Nepal is beautiful,” he said. The text is immaculate and does not read much like a translation, credit for which clearly goes to the team that put the edition together: translator Prawin Adhikari, &nbsp;Anagha Neelakanthan and Bhekh Thapa’s daughter, Manjushree. As Nepal enters a new era of governance and diplomacy, A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy should be essential reading for students of political science, economics and foreign affairs who can gain a fresh perspective on the country’s trajectory.&nbsp; There are dozens of forgotten state secrets recorded in the book, but the reader must also remember this is a story told from one person’s perspective and there may be others.&nbsp; So, what really made Thapa the diplomat he was? I met him in 2004 at the Kantipur TV studio when he was serving as king Gyanendra’s foreign minister. He was there for a studio interview, and I was just done with my English newscast.&nbsp; He surprised me at the door: “Pratibha! I’ve been reading your articles in The Kathmandu Post. You must keep writing.” I thanked him, glad to have been noticed for my work by a stranger. That was perhaps one of the things that set Thapa apart — he excelled at staying close to those in power, while also noticing those who were not.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Book details"> </figure>

How to win friends and influence nations

Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Wednesday broke tradition and met with 17 foreign envoys collectively, a move that was a notable departure from how his predecessors operated.&nbsp;
Shah had already set himself apart by talking less, listening more, and delegating to trusted friends. But by meeting all ambassadors at one go in the presence of the Foreign Ministry, he signalled a paradigm shift in how he wants Nepal to be seen: no longer just balancing India and China, but as a country confident about its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/tripolar-contestation-over-nepal">strategic importance and place in the world</a>.
In just two weeks, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rsp-dos-and-don-ts">RSP has sprung into action </a>on multiple fronts to implement its ambitious 100-point, 100-days action plan. It has taken short-term measures to mitigate the impact of the Gulf war, as well as medium- and long- term measures to streamline the bureaucracy. A few high-profile figures have been made examples of to drive the message home.
Earlier this week, the government recalled six politically appointed ambassadors, the most notable being long-serving Shankar Sharma from New Delhi. The Kathmandu District Court issued arrest warrants against former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his former foreign minister wife Arzu Rana on charges of money laundering and corruption.
Each ministry has been trying to clean up the accumulated rot from the past three decades: regulatory overhaul of microfinance, education, health and service delivery.&nbsp;
These actions widely disseminated campaign-style on YouTube and TikTok have made most Nepalis hopeful that the party they installed in power means business.
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BACKLASH
But such attempts to overhaul a long-entrenched political culture were bound to face backlash. In their impatience and enthusiasm to get things done, some of Prime Minister Shah’s ministers have over-reached.
It was common knowledge that government-paid advertising in the mainstream press was kickback-driven, but the PMO’s directive that official notices be published or broadcast only on state-run media has been denounced — especially as the media industry struggles to stay afloat.
More serious are some recent appointments by ministers of relatives and figures closely associated with the RSP to key positions. This has rankled because this party built its political plank on ending nepotism and graft.&nbsp;
News that Home Minister Sudan Gurung allegedly had not paid rent on leased land, which illegally encroached on the lake in Pokhara did not help. &nbsp;
Prime Minister Shah himself has come under scrutiny for appointing a kitchen cabinet full of male buddies from his time as Kathmandu mayor. To douse criticism he brought in as adviser investigative journalist Deepa Dahal, who has exposed corruption in high places of the previous coalitions.&nbsp;
Shah’s appointment of another political adviser Asim Shah to the head Constitution Amendment Task Force, is also seen as problematic. He is a filmmaker and former lawmaker, but does not have a background in constitutional law.&nbsp;
Even more controversial is the Cabinet’s decision to appoint RSP Chair Rabi Lamichhane’s legal counsel, Narayan Kandel, as Attorney General. Kandel used to be a UK permanent resident, and does not have as much experience practicing law in Nepal.&nbsp;
Kandel’s appointment drew flak and raised eyebrows, and with the pending legal cases against Lamichhane this appointment represents a flagrant conflict of interest.
Health Minister Nisha Mehta was also accused of favouritism after reappointing Junu Shrestha, wife of Labour Minister Dipak Kumar Shah, as member of the Health Insurance Board which had earlier suspended her. The Labour Minister’s rambling rant at the Board’s meeting on Tuesday has not helped the RSP’s image.&nbsp;
(UPDATE: On Thursday, Prime Minister Shah sacked the Labour Minister after the RSP found him in breach of the party's code of conduct and discipline. He served 14 days in the Cabinet, one of the shortest tenures for a minister in Nepal )
It is hard to know what <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/ball-in-balen-s-court">Balendra Shah is thinking</a>, and how Rabi Lamichhane is going to justify some of these moves. After all, making politics, governance, and bureaucracy a meritocracy has been the core tenet of the RSP, and it risks alienating its mainly youth base if these missteps persist.
But at least for now, most RSP supporters seem to be giving the party the benefit of doubt.

council-of-ministers

Know your Ministers

Conflicting interests

Galaxy A series

Know your Ministers

How to win friends and influence nations

Nepal’s new government springs into action