Nepal reshuffles cabinet, no foreign minister yet

Các bộ trưởng mới được bổ nhiệm trong vòng mở rộng nội các mới nhất chụp ảnh sau lễ tuyên thệ, ở Kathmandu, ngày 31/3/2023.

Nepal's newly appointed ministers in the latest cabinet expansion pose for a photo after their swearing-in ceremony, in the capital Kathmandu, March 31, 2023.

On March 31, Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expanded his cabinet by nominating 11 ministers from six political parties.

On the same day, newly appointed ministers, including Mr. Narayankaji Shrestha and Mr. Purna Bahadur Khadka, were sworn in.

It is noteworthy that no one was appointed to head the Foreign Ministry and seven other ministries in this latest cabinet expansion.

Thus, with this latest cabinet expansion, the Council of Ministers remains incomplete as the Nepali Parliament did not appoint the allocated eight ministers due to a dispute between two factions within the party. The maximum number of cabinet members is 25.

This is the seventh time Prime Minister Dahal has reshuffled his cabinet since he became head of the seven-party coalition government in late December last year.

Nepal on March 9 elected social democrat Ram Chandra Paudel as its third president since the Himalayan nation ended its centuries-long monarchy.

Prime Minister Dahal is scheduled to make an official visit to India in mid-April.