The three major parties in power have reached an agreement on the allocation of ambassadorial appointments.
In a meeting held at Singha Durbar on Thursday evening, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, UML Chairman KP Oli, and Home Minister Ravi Lamichhane decided on the appointment of ambassadors to 11 currently vacant positions.
The Cabinet meeting on January 24 had recalled the ambassadors from 11 countries, including India, the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Malaysia, Spain, Denmark, Israel, Qatar, and Portugal.
According to sources, the agreement stipulates that the UML will appoint 8 ambassadors, the Maoist Center will appoint 1, and the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) will appoint 2 ambassadors. It was also noted that only one individual from the Maoist Center’s quota has been specified for recall.
The Prime Minister’s Secretariat indicated that some ambassadorial appointments might occur before the cabinet meeting on Friday. “While the specific countries have not been designated, the number of appointments has been finalized as of today,” the secretariat stated.
Foreign Minister Narayankaji Shrestha is set to travel to Iran on Saturday, and a broad consensus on the ambassadorial appointments was sought before his departure.
It was also reported that Prachanda and Oli were not willing to allocate one of the ambassadorial positions in India or the US—countries considered important by the RSP—to themselves.
