Kathmandu, February 9
A meeting of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda”s Cabinet was put off on Thursday morning following a dispute in the ruling coalition over the appointment of the chief of Nepal Police.
The meeting was expected to formally appoint a successor to IGP Upendrakanta Aryal, who is to retire later this week. While Prime Minister Prachanda is favour of the senior-most DIG Navaraj Silwal, Nepali Congress chief wants Jaya Bahadur Chand, the third senior-most officer in the ranks to be appointed to the post.
According to a source, Deuba has instructed Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi to tender his resignation if the Prime Minister does not yield to his demand. The source told Onlinekhabar that the Prime Minister suggested that the second senior-most Prakash Aryal could be a compromise candidate for the job.
Deuba, however, is adamant that Chand, who hails from Far-west Nepal (the NC chief’s constituency) be named Aryal’s successor. Chand has been lobbying hard to rally support from Nepali Congress leaders from the Far-west. “This is a golden opportunity for the Far-west to get an IGP,” Chand has been quoted as saying. In addition to this, Chand is also learnt to have assured Deuba that he would support the Nepali Congress during the soon-to-be-held elections.
All Assistant IGs in the Nepal Police are also retiring along with IG Aryal. That is why the governemnt needs to pick the new IG from the Police’s pool of DIGs.
