Kathmandu. The tug-of-war between the Congress and the UML over the appointment process of the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank has reached its peak. After both parties took the stand that the governor cannot be released, it is said that an ‘uneasy situation’ was created between Prime Minister KP Oli and Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba on the night of Chaitra 18.
Prime Minister Oli had called a cabinet meeting in Baluwatar on the evening of Chaitra 18. There was no agenda related to the appointment of the governor in the meeting. Due to the violence caused by the royalists on Chaitra 15, the cabinet meeting was held a little late that day due to discussions and meetings. However, sources say that the atmosphere changed when Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba reached Baluwatar just as the cabinet meeting was about to begin. It is said that Oli was shocked when Deuba asked Prime Minister Oli to appoint him as governor today.
,The Prime Minister felt somewhat uncomfortable when President Deuba himself entered Baluwatar and said that he should appoint the governor today. They had a long private conversation. It was understandable that the situation was somewhat uncomfortable when he left there, the source told Singha Durbar.
Before that, it had been revealed that there was a rough understanding that the governor would be appointed only after Prime Minister Oli returned from his visit to Thailand.
But when Deuba entered Baluwatar today to make the governor, it is said that the course of events took a different turn.
Sources claim that KP Oli became suspicious after Deuba said that he would call the members of the selection committee to Baluwatar right away and recommend the name and appoint him today. ,The governor should be appointed now, it was natural for the Prime Minister to feel cold after Deuba proposed to make so-and-so the governor., Baluwatar source says.
The person Deuba said should be made the governor was Rajendra Kishor Chhetri.
It is said that KP Oli was shocked when Deuba himself came to Baluwatar saying that so-and-so should be made the governor and he avoided it by saying that he would do it later. However, on the eve of appointing the governor, the government amended the criteria for appointment of officials related to the Ministry of Finance, 2073, on 27 Falgun 2081, removing the provision regarding the age requirement for becoming a governor.
Both Rajendra Kishor Chhetri and Rabindra Pandey, who are currently in the race to become governor, have already crossed 65 years of age. It is clear that the government has abolished the provision regarding the age requirement of crossing 35 years and not crossing 65 years of age to become a governor, with the plan to make one of them the governor.
The National Bank Act has a provision to appoint a new governor 1 month before the end of the term of the governor. Not only in Nepal but also in India. India appoints the governor a month in advance. But in Nepal, the ruling parties have been arguing internally about who will appoint whom as governor.
Recently, it is said that both Deuba and Oli have tried to reconcile their differences after the possibility of the government collapsing or a change in the ruling coalition appeared high.
Even if Oli were to become the Prime Minister himself, KP Oli would have appointed the governor before that time came. Even if an alliance including UML, Maoists and Unified Socialists were formed, Deuba is understood to have been in a hurry since Oli himself would have appointed the governor. But it is not unlikely that KP Oli, a shrewd political player, would have received information that the cooperation with the Congress would not last long. As his government was in danger of collapsing, Oli has recently started efforts for leftist cooperation and unity.
Chait 18 became such an evening for Oli and Deuba that the gap of distrust between them became very large. For Deuba, it seemed that if the governor was not appointed on the same day, he would be out of his hands. On the other hand, Oli also came to the conclusion that if he could not postpone the 18th, he would not be able to make his people the governor. For Oli, if the 18th had to be postponed by any means, Deuba would not want it. The story seems to take a different turn after Oli returns from Thailand. This is the common conclusion of high-ranking sources close to the Congress-UML.
A high-ranking source told Singha Durbar, ‘The Congress has a strategy of not leaving any appointments under the Ministry of Finance, but Deuba himself has entered the fray for the appointment of the governor.’
Government under pressure from middlemen
The voice of leaders and ministers has stopped being heard in the appointments made by the government. Recently, the appointments made by the Ministry of Finance have completely gone beyond the government’s control. A high-ranking source It was said, “The government was changed when the appointment of the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal was not accepted. Now, even with the appointment of the governor, it is difficult for Prime Minister KP Oli to maintain power.”
A Finance Ministry employee told Singha Durbar, “The work done by the Finance Ministry is completely in the hands of outsiders, the minister and secretary are just characters in the incident, the director is a different person.” According to the employee, every appointment made by the Ministry of Finance will be based on the proposal of the transfer and promotion middleman.
Political parties are destroying powerful institutions
After political parties receive offers of large resources for appointments, the ruling parties are busy openly selling institutions. There is a big game in the appointment of heads of government agencies including Nepal Insurance Authority, Nepal Securities Board, Nepal Stock Exchange, Electricity Authority, Nepal Oil Corporation, Nepal Airlines Corporation, Civil Aviation Authority, Nepal Telecommunications Authority, Nepal Telecom, Nepal Rastra Bank. A complaint has been filed with the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, alleging that five billion rupees were tampered with in the appointment of the chairman of the Securities Board. .
Similarly, after good negotiations started in the appointments of other bodies, the government itself has started making changes in recent appointments.
There has been talk that there is a commission of Rs 1.5 billion in the appointment of the governor. It is said that the digital bank license, the asset management company license, the purchase of shares of Habib Bank Pakistan in Himalayan Bank, etc. are sources of huge income.
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