“We have decided to summon the prime minister again on Thursday to seek clarifications on the appointments and other issues,” SAC Chairman Ram Nath Dhakal said. The prime minister, home minister and home ministry officials have already been asked to appear before the committee on Thursday to clarify about the scam over the purchase of obsolete armed personnel carrier for Nepal Police peacekeepers in UN mission in Sudan. [break]
Dhakal further said that they would use the occasion to to ask the prime minister about the delay in the appointments. The parliamentary body took the decision after its month-long deadline expired three days ago, he added.
The Prime Minister´s Office said the delay was not due to the prime minister. “It has been delayed due to the current political crisis,” said the prime minister´s political advisor Raghuji Panta. “The prime minister could not hold Constitutional Council (CC) meeting despite his continuous efforts.” He, however, said that the appointments will be made within the next few days.
Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal did not attend any of the CC meetings in his capacity as leader of the main opposition party.
On March 2, the SAC had directed the prime minister to fill all the vacant positions in various constitutional bodies that remain vacant for years and also inform about appointments to the committee.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the Public Service Commission (PSC), the Election Commission (EC) and the Office of Auditor General (OAG) are currently without heads as well as some members.
According to sources close to the Prime Minister´s Office, the main coalition partners in the government -- the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML -- had agreed in principle to appoint chiefs in CIAA, National Planning Commission, Poverty Alleviation Fund and Public Service Commission from names proposed by the Nepali Congress, and in Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the Auditor General´s Office and the Election Commission on the recommendations of the UML.
However, the implementation of the agreement between the two parties was stalled after the Maoists and Madhesi parties also staked claim for key posts, the sources further said.
The government has so far managed to appoint Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwoda as NRB governor and Bidyadhar Mallik as the chief of Poverty Alleviation Fund.
While the CIAA has been left without its chief and three other commissioners for the past four years, two other members of the anti-graft body retired three months ago. Former Additional Inspector General of Nepal Police Keshav Baral, who was appointed as CIAA member three months ago, has failed to take of oath of office and secrecy in the absence of chief commissioner.
Likewise, the Election Commission is left without its chief after the then Chief Commissioner Bhoj Raj Pokharel tendered resignation some one year ago. The EC is currently without its chief and one commissioner. The PSC is also left without its chief for the last one and a half years after the then chairman Tirtha Man Shakya retired.
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