Nepali jumbo cabinet draws mixed reaction

Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has formed the largest cabinet ever in the history of Nepal Sunday. This is the seventh time the prime minister has expanded his cabinet ever since taking office in Aug 28. With the latest expansion, the number of cabinet members has reached 49 along with ministers and state ministers. Sher Bahadur Deuba in 1996 had formed a 46-member cabinet under his premiership. Along with the prime minister, the cabinet now has 2 deputy prime ministers, 24 ministers, and 22 state ministers, with 27 ministers and state ministers from the United Madhesi Front (UMF) while the remainent from the UCPN-M. Talking to Xinhua, Dinanath Sharma, spokesperson of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal- Maoists (UCPN-M) said that huge expansion was made by taking into account the political transition in the country. "The country has been going through a transition period for which this was the best possible solution for the present time," he said. However, analysts view this expansion as being something out of the box. Prajwal Shrestha, senior political analyst said that the expansion could have been a step to demonstrate an attitude to the other political parties and the public that the UCPN-M is capable of moving ahead despite opposition from its hardliners. The hardliner faction of the UCPN-M led by Vice- Chairman Mohan Vaidya has been opposing the party's seven-point agreement on peace process with the major political parties of Nepal made on Nov. 1, saying that it was against the party's official decision and ideology. "There was a decision amongst the parties that the government to be formed was to be a national consensus government. However, Nepali Congress (NC) and Communist Party of Nepal United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) denied to join the coalition government of UCPN-M and UMF.Perhaps that is why Nepal now has a jumbo cabinet," Shrestha said. Meanwhile, there is a mixed reaction towards the formation of a huge cabinet. According to Shrestha, "The formation of jumbo government can be examined on two levels." He said that the functionalities and performance of the new government would decide if it was successful. "Otherwise, this whole thing could be a big mistake," Shrestha said. "Nepal is a small country. A huge cabinet means the nation will have to bear more expenses. We already have more than 600 constituent assembly members and now with such a large cabinet, we should consider whether Nepal in its present economic position is capable to doing that," Shrestha opined. As per the salary and facilities regulation, the budget of the 49-member cabinet will now be over 8.66 million Nepali rupees ( about 108,251 U.S. dollars) per month. The present government is yet to take a complete shape even after three months of its formation. The Ministry of Defense still has a vacant portfolio after which, the number of the cabinet members will reach 50 or above.