A Cabinet meeting scheduled for 9 am on Wednesday has been postponed for 3 pm.

The meeting which was held briefly at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar this morning discussed appointment of provincial chiefs and fixing provincial capitals for the swearing in of newly elected provincial parliamentarians.

Govinda Subba has been recommended as the chief of Province 1 while Umakanta Jha has been recommended as the chief of Province 2, Anuradha Koirala as the chief of Province 3, Baburam Kunwar as the chief of Province 4, Ratneshworlal Kasyat as the chief Province 5, Durgakeshar Khanal as the chief of Province 6 and Mohan Raj Malla as the chief of Province 7.

According to Prime Minister’s press coordinator Govinda Pariyar, the Cabinet meeting to be held this afternoon will most probably approve the names.

“The meeting has been deferred for now. The meeting to be held at 3 pm today will most probably endorse the names,” he said.

Though Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had called the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, he postponed the meeting for today to find consensus with the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre), Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal and the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal pertaining to appointment of provincial chiefs and fixing provincial capitals.

The Election Commission (EC) has been saying that that it cannot announce the results of the House of Representatives elections under the Proportional Representation (PR) category before the National Assembly elections.

Members of provincial assemblies have also not been able to take oath of office due to delay in the appointment of province chiefs.

The National Assembly election has been scheduled for February 7.

The delay in the appointment of provincial chiefs will not only affect the National Assembly election, formation of provincial government will also be delayed.