On Sunday, just hours before Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal was scheduled to fly to Geneva to attend a high-level session of the UN Human Rights Council, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal asked her to cancel the visit.

The development comes as a new ruling coalition minus the CPN-UML is in the making in Kathmandu just ahead of the presidential election next month.

Foreign Minister Paudyal, who is from the UML, was scheduled to leave for the Swiss city on Sunday evening leading a five-member delegation including a secretary from the prime minister’s office, foreign ministry officials and former minister Govinda Bandi as an expert. The 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council is slated for February 27-March 17.

A proposal on the visit and the composition of the Nepali delegation had been presented to the prime minister about ten days ago, according to government sources.

Now Bandi has been given an elevated role as prime minister’s legal and human rights adviser as well as the responsibility to lead the delegation to Geneva.

Nepal is a member of the UN Human Rights Council.

Foreign Minister Paudyal confirmed to the Post that she received a call from Chief Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi on Sunday afternoon, following instructions from Prime Minister Dahal, and canceled the visit at the last moment.

But sources at the prime minister's office told the Post that in his conversation with Foreign Minister Paudyal on Sunday morning, Dahal had inquired whether she was leaving for Geneva.

Minister Paudyal said she was fully prepared to visit Geneva.

Later the prime minister told her not to visit Geneva and that he also had no plan to attend the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in Qatar, a close aide to Prime Minister Dahal told the Post.

“The prime minister asked foreign minister not to visit Geneva in the changed political situation including the Rastriya Prajatantra Party’s withdrawal from the government,” an aide to the prime minister said, adding, “The prime minister also told the foreign minister that he would be skipping the Qatar event.”

“Regarding your Geneva visit, I will speak to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel so that you can proceed with the visit,” Paudyal quoted the prime minister as saying.

The prime minister said that he would not visit Qatar and was planning to send another deputy prime minister, Narayan Kaji Shrestha in his stead, according to Paudyal.

Meanwhile a government secretary said Sunday’s change of plans was a diplomatic blunder.

“Why did the foreign ministry organise the press conference on Sunday and lie to the media when both foreign minister and the prime minister were in fact not visiting Geneva and Qatar, respectively?” the secretary said.

“There is a crisis of trust among the ruling parties and the entire nation is paying the price. The UN Human Rights Council is an important platform for us, but due to the political infighting, we have lost an opportunity to tell the world about our ongoing but protracted peace process and status of human rights,” a government secretary said.

During a press conference on Sunday, Sewa Lamsal, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had said the prime minister would visit Qatar on Friday and will remain there till Monday.

Foreign Minister Paudyal will also be attending the conference after participating in the Geneva event, said Lamsal.

“When the prime minister had already told the foreign minister that he was not visiting Qatar, why did the foreign ministry lie to the media," an aide to the prime minister said, adding, “The UML is trying to discredit the prime minister.”

Bandi will lead the Nepali delegation to Geneva since he has rich experience of the peace process and is a well-known face in Geneva,” the aide to the prime minister said.

“He will defend the country’s human rights record and give an update on the latest status of the peace process.”