KATHMANDU: Minister for Finance, Communication and Information Technology Yuba Raj Khatiwada has resigned from his post today.
Minister Khatiwada, who was also the government spokesperson, has stepped down from the post of Minister with two portfolios a day before the expiration of his tenure.
Before submitting his resignation to the Prime Minister, Minister Khatiwada attended a brief farewell ceremony held at the Ministry of Finance. According to a source at the Finance Ministry, he stated that he was able to set a foundation for fiscal federalism in the country during a difficult period.
As he is not any member of the federal parliament, his tenure will end on Saturday.
Prime Minister Oli had tapped into technocrat Khatiwada to head the Ministry of Finance by appointing him as a member of the National Assembly in February 2018. However, his two-year tenure at the National Assembly ended in February which also blocked his way to serve as the cabinet member.
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Oli had reappointed Khatiwada as the Finance Minister in March based on a constitutional provision that allows him to tap into a non-parliamentarian for the role of minister for up to six months.
Although Prime Minister Oli was in favor of nominating him again as the National Assembly member, he could not succeed in his plan to allow Khatiwada to continue due to the intra-party disputes.
In line with the party’s decision, the cabinet has decided to nominate Bam Dev Gautam as a National Assembly member, a position that had remained vacant six months ago when Khatiwada’s tenure ended in March.
