Nepal cabinet reshuffle, Oli takes over Defence Ministry

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli took over the defence portfolio, replacing the incumbent minister in latest round of cabinet reshuffle where he inducted three new faces.

It is the 12th round of reshuffling of cabinet since February 14, 2018 when Oli assumed office of Prime Minister. In the latest round, he has replaced Ishwor Pokhrel as the Minister of Defence and has put him under Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.

This comes after criticism against Pokhrel was rising inside the cabinet, which earlier led to the disseverment of COVID-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) under his leadership for poor management of the pandemic.

Moreover, questions had been raised regarding the high expenditure of state funds during the early stage of the pandemic where the Defence Ministry had spent a higher amount in comparison to the Ministry of Health and Population.

Though Pokhrel has been assigned to the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), no reasons have been provided regarding this decision.

Furthermore, Oli brought General Secretary of the Nepal Communist Party, Bishnu Poudel on board, assigning him the Finance Ministry while Lilanath Shrestha has been given Women, Children and Senior Citizens Ministry.

Prabat Gurung, who earlier was the Women, Children and Senior Citizens Minister has been assigned to Ministry of Information and Communications, along with Krishna Gopal Shrestha to Ministry of Urban Development, a list issued from the Office of President shows.

( With inputs from ANI )