Kathmandu. As the day to appoint the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank approaches, pressure has increased within the CPN-UML regarding the issue of the governor. Even though both the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister are from the UML, the pressure has increased within the party as public appointments have been handed over to middlemen.
The Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal, Insurance Authority, Nepal Stock Exchange under the Ministry of Finance have been entrusted with the responsibility of middlemen and Nepali Congress. If UML does not take its stand on the appointment of the governor, it will create great dissatisfaction within the party.
A senior leader in a UML business organization told Singha Durbar, “Now we are ashamed to say that we are UML and that the party is in the government. The Prime Minister has his own Finance Minister, but all other parties are taking the appointments. This has created great dissatisfaction within the party. Not only that, the party leaders have also had to face insults from middlemen.”
The governor has been exchanged with the authority ?
People close to the Congress have been appointed in three appointments under the Ministry of Finance. The UML, who were sure that the UML would get the governor, have been alarmed by the latest political developments. After the cabinet meeting held on Monday (Chait 11th) appointed Hitendradev Shakya, a close UML member, to the Electricity Authority, there has been talk of the UML exchanging the authority with the governor.
The talk of the exchange of the governor has been raised after Prime Minister Oli, who has been becoming flexible in political appointments, participated in the authority. According to a source close to the Congress, Deepak Khadka took the risk after no one from the Congress was ready to replace Kulman and become the executive director of the NEA.
“Energy Minister Deepak Khadka was in a dilemma after facing a drought for the past 8 months due to the dispute with Kulman,” the source said. “After Kulman refused to be the chief, except for the controversial person, the UML was forced to give him the position. In my opinion, the UML’s character has been fixed for the governor.”
According to the source, the incident in which Kulman attacked a person close to the Congress with a glass was briefed to Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba. After Deuba was convinced about the matter, Kulman agreed to remove him. Sources claim that Hitendra Dev was appointed jointly by both the Congress and the UML. Sources claim that the governor is not involved in this.
Governor fixed 1 week ago!
The cabinet meeting on Falgun 21 had agreed to form a recommendation committee to appoint the governor. However, the government did not formally make the committee public for 2 weeks, saying that making the members of the committee public in advance would increase pressure.
The cabinet meeting held on Chait 11 has formalized the governor selection committee. The committee includes Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel, economist Dr. Bishwanath Poudel and former Governor Vijayanath Bhattarai. According to sources close to the Finance Minister, the new governor has been fixed a week ago. The source said, “The governor has been ‘locked’ a week ago, only the date will be fixed after the formal decision of the Council of Ministers, the rest of the work has been completed.”
According to those sources, this time the governor may come from outside the Rastra Bank. Since there is no need to issue a public notice for the governor recommendation, the committee will discuss only with the people in the committee. Out of the two deputy governors of the Rastra Bank, Dr. Neelam Dhungana is likely to be included in the three.
She has made it clear that she has met with the middlemen four times. Deputy Dhungana has been telling his relatives that he has received good support from the middlemen. Dhungana claims that the atmosphere is in his favor.
Similarly, the name of Dr. Gunakar Bhatta, Executive Director of the Nepal Rastra Bank, is claimed by the source to be included in the top three. Apart from this, it is claimed that the names of three people will be shortlisted from among Dr. Prakash Shrestha, Nabil Bank Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gyanendra Dhungana, Prabhu Bank CEO Ashok Sherchan, and former CEO of the Investment Board Sushil Bhatta. It is understood that Prime Minister Oli will give the red seal to one of them in the cabinet meeting to be held on Thursday, Chaitra 14.
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