The government is set to announce vacancy notices to appoint ambassadors, multiple officials from the Foreign Ministry told the Post. This would be the first instance in Nepal of an ambassadorial appointment being made through an open competition.

Earlier, in 2019, the then KP Sharma Oli government had set a criteria for ambassadors applicable to those appointed through political quotas. But successive governments flouted that criteria.

In Nepal, ambassadors are appointed in two ways—either from among officials serving at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who are also often called ‘career diplomats’, or they are selected by the political parties in power.

The Guidelines on the Appointment of the Ambassadors, 2075 BS, stipulate that at least fifty percent of the total ambassadorial positions are to be filled from among the career diplomats, while the remaining fifty percent can be political appointees.

Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has already hinted to senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that a vacancy will soon be called to fill ambassadorial positions, the officials said. When the vacancy will be called is, however, uncertain.

During a senior management team (SMT) meeting on Monday, Khanal announced that some ambassadorial posts will be filled through open competition. He did not divulge the details of the plan.

The SMT, a body consisting of all joint secretaries from the foreign ministry, discusses and takes crucial decisions related to the ministry.

To select ambassadors from among career diplomats, Minister Khanal has already laid the groundwork by picking possible candidates among joint secretaries, said the officials.

The vacancy will seek details like age, experience and educational qualification from the aspirants. It will also consider extra qualifications like the publication of books, articles and research papers.

The vacancy will probably be out by next week, the officials said.

While picking ambassadors through an open competition would be a groundbreaking move, one retired diplomat said that alone does not guarantee that qualified people get selected in the process.

Officials said that with the move, the new government aims to ensure transparency in the selection of ambassadors. The ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party had already called such a vacancy in June 2024 when it was in a coalition government with CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre).

Many countries do pick career diplomats as envoys but there is also the provision of selecting political appointees as ambassadors, especially those who are trusted by the political leadership of the sending country, who have a strong profile, connections and other qualifications like command over certain language.

Earlier this month, the government decided to recall six ambassadors appointed by the KP Oli government. With that, as many as 17 ambassadorial positions including at some important missions like India, China, US, UK and others will be vacant.

During Monday’s meeting, Minister Khanal told officials that he had already taken consent from Prime Minister Balendra Shah about issuing the vacancy notice, officials present at the meeting said. The foreign minister also stated that serving in India and China will be the prerequisite to become the foreign secretary now, according to the joint secretaries.

It is likely that fifty percent of the total ambassadorial appointments will be made through open completion, the officials further said. “But we are claiming more than fifty percent this time,” one official told the Post on the condition of anonymity.

Appointment of the ambassadors is linked with larger restructuring of the ministry, said the foreign ministry officials. There are talks ongoing at the ministry about reducing the numbers of the embassies and opening new ones, they said.

Nepal has a total of 44 missions, including 34 embassies and 10 consul general offices. Minister Khanal is under pressure from Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle to cut down on the number of missions as part of the government’s plan to adopt austerity measures.

Meanwhile, by the end of July, six other ambassadorial positions will be vacant. The terms of six ambassadors in Brazil, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Austria, Oman and Egypt—who were appointed on May 7, 2021—will be over by the end of July. The government will then have the luxury of appointing 24 ambassadors at one go.

There are already critics of the government plan to appoint ambassadors through open competition.

“No qualified people will get selected through the open competition,” one former diplomat said. “The job demands loyalty and commitment to the state but this qualification might be compromised while selecting ambassadors from open competition.”

The retired diplomat added, “It would be better to conduct head hunting and talent hunting. The ministry should start looking for those qualified people and send them to the country of their expertise. But open competition cannot meet the expectation of the government.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Poudel Chettri said he did not have an update or any information on the plan.

In 2024, when RSP was a coalition partner in the then Puspa Kamal Dahal government, two other ruling parties, UML and Maoists, had given two ambassadorial positions to the RSP.

Then the RSP unveiled a detailed criteria of appointment: that one should be a Nepali citizen, have no criminal record, and should not hold permanent or temporary residence permits from any foreign country. The qualified person would also have extensive knowledge of Nepal’s economic interest, international trade dynamics, economic diplomacy, development cooperation as well as in-depth knowledge of Nepal’s internal politics, foreign policy, and national security.