Miscellaneous
Cabinet meet put off after Nidhi-Thapa protocol row
A scheduled Cabinet meeting was dramatically called off on Wednesday evening after a row over protocol related matters between two deputy prime ministers—Bimalendra Nidhi and Kamal Thapa.A scheduled Cabinet meeting was dramatically called off on Wednesday evening after a row over protocol related matters between two deputy prime ministers—Bimalendra Nidhi and Kamal Thapa.
Chief Secretary Somlal Subedi confirmed that the Cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday was postponed. I have not been informed about the next meeting, he said.
The meeting was scheduled to approve Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s visit to China starting Thursday and discuss police chief issue, as the government’s earlier decision of promoting DIG Jaya Bahadur Chand was quashed by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. According to sources, a row over who—Nidhi or Thapa—should be the acting prime minister during Dahal’s trip to China resulted in cancellation of the meeting.
The Nepali Congress, the party Nidhi represents in the government, has been claiming that he should be given the responsibility of the acting prime minister, as it is the largest party in Parliament and it has been the tradition.
Thapa on the other hand is learnt to have claimed that he is senior to Nidhi.
The website of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has listed DPM Nidhi on the top [after PM Dahal] followed by DPM Krishna Bahadur Mahara and DPM Thapa. Thapa joined the eight-month-old Dahal government two weeks ago.