Nepali PM Dahal to expand his Cabinet soon

Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is likely to expand his Cabinet later this week after holding discussions with coalition partner, the Nepali Congress, on Thursday.

A meeting at the Communist Party of Nepal- Maoist Centre headquarters yesterday entrusted party chairman Dahal the task of selecting ministers from the party.

He is likely to select Janardan Sharma as Minister for Energy, Ram Karki as Minister for Information and Communication, Pravu Sah as Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Hitraj Pande as Minister for Federal Affairs and Local Development and Dhaniram Poudel as Minister for Education, reports the Kathmandu Post.

The meeting held yesterday also held discussions on making the Cabinet inclusive with the inclusion of women.

Meanwhile, the Nepali Congress, the key coalition partner, has its own fair share of struggles in selecting the ministers.

With too many aspirants, party president Sher Bahadur Deuba is yet to make picks for the ministers in the new government.

Deuba had last Saturday informed Dahal that his party would send ministers to the government after the conclusion of the general convention of the Nepal Students' Union, sister wing of the party.

The NSU's convention kicked off on Sunday and was supposed to conclude on Tuesday, but its closed session was postponed on Monday following some disputes over representatives.

The convention's closed session has been rescheduled for today.