RPP-N, RPP unification function cancelled
KATHMANDU, Aug 8: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has appointed three new ministers in his council of ministers on the sixth day of his election as the head of government.
The new ministers are Deepak Bohara and Bikram Pandey of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and Jaydev Joshi of CPN (Samyukta).
“They have not been assigned any portfolio and they will work as ministers without portfolio for now,” prime minister's personal secretary Ramesh Malla told Republica. The new ministers were sworn in on Monday.
Earlier, Dahal had appointed two deputy prime ministers and three other ministers from his own party and other major ruling partner Nepali Congress.
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With the RPP's decision to join the government, the plan to unify the RPP and RPP-Nepal has been cancelled.
RPP-N Chairman Kamal Thapa has said the RPP Chairman Pashupati Shamsher JB Rana's decision to join the government has disrputed the plan to unify two parties.
“Today [Monday] morning I asked Pashupati Shamsherji to choose one of the two things -- party unification or government. His choice has disappointed hundreds of thousands of cadres who wanted party unification,” Thapa wrote on Twitter.
The two parties had earlier announced that a party unification function would be held at the Rastriya Sabha Griha [City Hall] in Kathmandu Tuesday. The chiefs of the two parties in a joint statement had announced to unify the party.
RPP Chairman Pashupati Shamsher JB Rana in a statement said that the party unification process was deferred for now saying that it required further discussions and agreements on the matter.
“The RPP is committed to the unification process. None of RPP leaders and cadres will attend the unification declaration function at Rastriya Sabha Griha scheduled for August 9 until the [party's] interim statute is amended,” read a statement issued on Tuesday by Rana.
However, the RPP-N has termed the latest development as unilateral and a surprising move.
A statement issued by RPP-N spokesperson Rajaram Shrestha stated that the party leaders were shocked to learn about Rana's unilateral decision to defer the unification function.
“The RPP has shown technical pretext of statutory complications which is not true. This unilateral decision by the RPP has disappointed hundreds of thousands of party cadres and well-wishers who wanted to see party unification,” read the statement issued by Shrestha.
RPP-N, which is headed by former Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa, has 25 seats in parliament while Rana's RPP has 12 seats in the 601-member parliament.
