Kathmandu, March 5
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is in the mood to expand his Cabinet only after the presidential election scheduled for next week, a close ally in the ruling party says.
Although Oli has held a series of negotiations within the party and outside of it, he is not yet ready to announce the names of the new ministers, especially at a time when negotiations with the Upendra Yadav-led Forum Nepal have reached a delicate state.
Oli, who was appointed Prime Minister on February 15, first inducted Politburo members Lal Babu Pandit and Tham Maya Thapa into his Cabinet and then added two more ministers each from the UML and the Maoist Centre.
Election for President is taking place on March 13. It is likely that that the Cabinet will get its full shape only after the election, said UML Deputy General Secretary and former Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel. He added that negotiations are also on to get the RJP to join the ruling coalition.
According to an agreement between the UML and the Maoist Centre (the two allies of the Left Alliance), UML is to get 17 ministries while the Maoists are to get seven. However, the math became complicated after Forum-Nepal and the RJP hinted that they to want to come to power in the centre.
