Nepal’s first attempt to open ambassadorial appointments to the public has hit an unexpected hurdle after attracting nearly 3,000 applications with officials now acknowledging there is no established mechanism to systematically evaluate and shortlist such a large number of candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The development has raised questions over the future of what was presented as a landmark reform aimed at making ambassadorial appointments more transparent and merit-based.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to officials familiar with the process, the government is now considering selecting a limited number of candidates from the application pool and a few from outside before final decisions are made by the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As per sources, Prime Minister Balendra Shah, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chair Rabi Lamichhane and Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal will handpick candidates for various vacant ambassadorial positions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government had invited applications for ambassadorial positions earlier this year in what was widely described as a historic move. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The names of applicants are also unlikely to be made public despite the initiative being launched as an effort to bring transparency to diplomatic appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal had argued that the process would encourage qualified and politically neutral professionals to compete for diplomatic postings while helping address long-standing concerns over politically influenced appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials say applications came from a diverse group of candidates including serving and former bureaucrats, retired security officials, university professors, journalists, professionals working with international organisations and others who met the eligibility criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, 17 diplomatic missions are without ambassadors and by the end of August, the number is likely to be increased to 24. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The uncertainty comes as Nepal continues to operate with several vacant ambassadorial positions abroad. The vacancies have persisted despite repeated commitments by successive governments to strengthen the country’s diplomatic presence and improve the appointment process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The open competition is for postings in India, China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Malaysia, Israel, South Korea, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Oman among others as well as in several international organisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the overwhelming interest has exposed a challenge that critics say should have been anticipated before the process was launched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While thousands responded to the government’s call, there appears to be no formal framework to assess, rank and narrow down such a large pool of applicants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That has fuelled concerns that the process could ultimately return to a more traditional model where political leadership plays the central role in deciding appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For now, the government’s experiment with open recruitment remains unfinished.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nepal’s first attempt to open ambassadorial appointments to the public has hit an unexpected hurdle after attracting nearly 3,000 applications with officials now acknowledging there is no established mechanism to systematically evaluate and shortlist such a large number of candidates. The development has raised questions over the future of what was presented as a landmark […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diplomacy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n