Koirala cabinet expansion delayed till tomorrow

The much-awaited expansion of the two-member cabinet led by Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has been delayed till tomorrow as Nepali Congress and CPN-UML could not finalise the list of their ministers.
The CPN-UML, led by Jhala Nath Khanal, had decided to join the cabinet after it was assured of the home affairs portfolio during a meeting with the leaders of the Nepali Congress.
Senior CPN-UML leader Bam Dev Gautam will lead his party's team with the deputy prime minister and home affairs portfolios.
Koirala has decided to allocate 10 ministries each to the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML, the second largest party in the Constituent Assembly.

Rastriya Prajatantra Party and CPN-ML (Mainali) will get one ministry each.
The new ministers will also be sworn-in at the Rastrapati Bhawan tomorrow, Nepali Congress sources said.

The two-member cabinet headed by Prime Minister Koirala took oath on February 11.
The premier has been unable to expand his cabinet for nearly two weeks after his swearing-in due to differences with the CPN-UML on the issue of sharing power.
Without the support of CPN-UML's 173 lawmakers, the government's position will be shaky as the Nepali Congress has only 194 seats in the 601-member Constituent Assembly.
The government also needs the CPN-UML's support to present the budget for the new fiscal in July.