A meeting of the party Standing Committee on Tuesday formed the high-level panel comprising Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya and Vice-chairman and newly elected Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai.[break]
"We have formed a three-member panel to nominate new ministers," said party Spokesperson Dinanath Sharma.
Though there has been tentative agreement between the UDMF and UCPN (Maoist) regarding the number of ministries to be shared between the two sides, they are yet to finalize the allocation of ministerial portfolios. There also seems to be a difference between the two sides regarding the number of deputy prime ministers in the cabinet.
The leaders of the Front, who wanted to meet the Maoist leadership today and sort out the differences, failed to do so as the Maoists were busy trying to resolve their own internal differences over cabinet formation.
The major bone of contention in the UCPN(Maoist) is who it should nominate as deputy prime minister from the party.
While Baidya has floated the name of party Secretary CP Gajurel as deputy prime minister with the foreign ministry portfolio, General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa and Standing Committee member Netra Bikram Chand have argued that the position should be given to Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha, deputy prime minister and home minister in the last cabinet, which was led by Jhalanath Khanal.
"Thapa and Chand have argued that Shrestha should be made deputy prime minister as he only had a very brief stint in the last cabinet," said a senior party leader. Leaders close to Shrestha have also claimed that there was an understanding at the time of the last reshuffle that those sent into the cabinet then would continue as ministers in the new government also, taking into account that they were likely to have had brief stints.
According to sources however, the party establishment wants to make Posta Babadur Bogati deputy prime minister.
The party has also been undecided over the minister of finance. The party establishment is vehemently opposed to choosing Dev Gurung as minister of finance as proposed by the Baidya group.
"There are three options: first, Gurung can take charge of the ministry; second, Bhattarai himself would directly oversee the ministry along with a capable state minister; and third, Shrestha, as deputy prime minister, can take charge of the ministry," he said.
In case Shrestha doesn´t join the government, his faction is likely to send Ram Kumar Yadav if it gets an ordinary ministry, and either Giriraj Mani Pokharel or Bishwo Bhakta Dulal if it gets a plum ministry.
The Dahal faction has demanded one more portfolio from Bhattarai´s share. "Dahal wants to make Gopal Kirati a minister from Bhattarai´s share of three ministries, something which was agreed earlier," said a leader close to Dahal.
In the previous cabinet, Dahal and Baidya had taken four ministries each and Bhattarai, three. The leader also said that either Janardan Sharma of Barshaman Pun from the Dahal faction is likely to join the cabinet.
According to sources, Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Hisila Yami, both from the Bhattarai faction and ministers in the previous cabinet, would stay out of the new cabinet. It is highly possible that Bhim Prasad Gautam, also from the Bhattarai faction, will join the government," said a leader close to Bhattarai.
As per the agreement, the United Madhesi Democratic Front (UMDF) has been allocated 11 ministries, and the remaining 15 have are the share of the UCPN (Maoist). The Maoist party plans to give four of these ministries to other small parties, including the MPRF led by Upendra Yadav.
"We will hold talks with the UDMF and expand the cabinet in the next couple of days," said Maoist spokesperson Sharma.
Row over deputy PM
According to senior Maoist leaders, the prime minister might not appoint any other deputy prime minister in addition to Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar, who is currently deputy prime minister and home minister.
There are at least five aspirants for the posts of deputy prime minister and that has put the prime minister in a difficult situation. The UMDF has stated that if the Maoists appoint a deputy prime minister, it would for its part send three more deputy prime ministers including Hridayesh Tripathi, JP Gupta, Mahendra Yadav. "So there is a chance that only Gahchchhadar will be deputy prime minister," said a Maoist leader.
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