KATHMANDU : President Bidya Devi Bhandari has administered the oath of office and secrecy for newly appointed ministers today.
President Bhandari administered the oath of office and secrecy to new ministers who were appointed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Thursday amidst a swearing-in ceremony at the Presidential Office in Shital Niwas.
After the swearing in ceremony, the newly appointed ministers are scheduled to assume their offices. Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Oli had appointed Bishnu Prasad Paudel as the new Minister for Finance. Krishna Gopal Shrestha was appointed the new Minister for Urban Development and Lilanath Shrestha, a lawmaker from Siraha, as Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens.
By stripping Deputy Prime Minister Pokharel the portfolio of Minister of Defence, Prime Minister Oli had himself retained the Ministry. Deputy Prime Minister Pokharel will now oversee the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.
Parbat Gurung, who was the Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens, became the new Minister for Communication and Information Technology.Prime Minister Oli has not removed any members from the cabinet. The cabinet reshuffle, however, has once again stirred intra-party disputes in the main ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP).
Dissatisfied over the ‘unilateral’ decision to reshuffle the cabinet without any consultation, co-chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and senior leader duo Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal have reportedly taken exception over the cabinet reshuffle that does not include a single minister from their factions.
