Nepal PM 'Prachanda' to reshuffle cabinet, forges new alliance

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ is set to change his coalition partners and reshuffle the Cabinet after breaking the alliance with Nepali Congress.

Prachanda is all set to form alliance with former premier KP Sharma Oli's party after terminating its nearly 15-month partnership with the Nepali Congress allegedly due to differences between the top leadership.

The alliance between the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) led by Prachanda and the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led Nepali Congress has been terminated as the growing differences between the two top leaders reached a climax, a CPN-Maoist Centre party leader said.

"As (the) Nepali Congress did not cooperate with the Prime Minister, we are forced to look for (a) new alliance,” Ganesh Shah, Secretary of the CPN-Maoist, told PTI.

A new set of hands will take hold of the Federal Parliament after Prachanda decided to join hands with CPN-UML, the second-largest party in the lower house led by Oli, who was regarded as Prachanda's top critic.

Reportedly, the cross-party leaders have said that the prime minister will form a small Cabinet by inducting ministers from the CPN-UML, Rastriya Swatantra Party and Janata Samajbadi Party apart from the CPN (Maoist Centre) led by himself.

Last year, the CPN-UML withdrew its support to the Prachanda-led government following a rift over backing the main opposition party's candidate for the presidential poll.

The new cabinet will be formed on Monday afternoon, and the size of the cabinet will be smaller, said Surendra Pandey, Vice-chairman of the CPN-UML.

The rift between the Maoist Centre and Nepali Congress grew after differences grew between Nepali Congress leader and Finance Minister Mahat and Prachanda over the issue of budget allocation to certain projects.

The rift grew as Nepali Congress President Deuba wanted the party’s senior leader and newly elected National Assembly member Krishna Sitaula to be made the Chairman of the National Assembly, against Prachanda’s plan to appoint his party’s fellow to the key post.

On Monday, the CPN-UML Chairman Oli met Prachanda at the Prime Minister’s quarters at Baluwatar and discussed matters relating to forming a new alliance, Shah said.

“The two leaders discussed the formation of a new government, a future course of action and possible leftist alliance among others, according to sources close to Baluwatar,” Shah said.

Nepal held its General election in November 2022, following which Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' was sworn in as the Prime Minister on December 26, 2022, in Kathmandu.

(with PTI inputs)