NEPAL: PM EXPANDS CABINET, APPOINTS CONTROVERSIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000982 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/03/2018 TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM NP SUBJECT: NEPAL: PM EXPANDS CABINET, APPOINTS CONTROVERSIAL DEPUTY PM REF: KATHMANDU 958 Classified By: Ambassador Nancy J. Powell. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) On August 31, Prime Minister Pushpa Dahal swore 15 ministers into his cabinet, bringing the total number to 24. The six Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist Leninist (UML) ministers agreed to take their oaths of office after the PM conceded on a protocol demand and allowed a controversial UML figure, Bamdev Gautam, to become Deputy Prime Minister. Gautam is also the new Home Minister. Induction Boosts Cabinet to 24 -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On August 31, Prime Minister Pushpa Dahal inducted 15 ministers into his cabinet, expanding it to a total of 24. (Note: This size is on par with previous Nepalese governments. End note.) Six of the new ministers are from the Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist; six from the Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist Leninist (UML); and ONE each from the leftist People's Front Nepal, Communist Party of Nepal - United, and the Terai-based Sadbhavana Party. Dahal appointed Bamdev Gautam as Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister. Four of the ministers are women: Industry Minister Asta Laxmi Shakya, Education Minister Renu Kumari Yadav, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Hisila Yami, and General Administration Minister Pampha Bhusal. Thirteen of the ministers have previous cabinet experience; 11 do not. Dahal has yet to appoint a Minister for Women, Children, and Social Welfare. (Note: The Ambassador has been told Dahal intends to keep the portfolio, which has supervisory responsibility for all local and international NGOs. End note.) ¶3. (SBU) The complete cabinet is as follows: - Prime Minister; Women, Children and Social Welfare - Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Maoist) - Deputy Prime Minister; Home Affairs - Bamdev Gautam (UML) - Finance - Baburam Bhattarai (Maoist) - Foreign Affairs - Upendra Yadav (MPRF) - Defense - Ram Bahadur Thapa (Maoist) - Physical Planning and Works - Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar (MPRF) - Water Resources - Bishnu Paudel (UML) - Information and Communications - Krishna Bahadur Mahara (Maoist) - Agriculture and Cooperatives - Jay Prakash Prasad Gupta (MPRF) - Industry - Asta Laxmi Shakya (UML) - Law, Justice and Constituent Assembly - Dev Prasad Gurung (Maoist) - Commerce and Supplies - Rajendra Mahato (Sadbhavana Party) - Land Reform and Management - Matrika Yadav (Maoist) - Youth and Sports - Gopal Shakya (UML) - Education - Renu Kumari Yadav (MPRF) - General Administration - Pampha Bhusal (Maoist) - Tourism and Civil Administration - Hisila Yami (Maoist) - HEALTH and Population - Giri Raj Mani Pokharel (People's Front Nepal) - Forest and Soil Conservation - Kiran Gurung (UML) - Peace and Reconstruction - Janardan Sharma (Maoist) - Culture and State Restructuring - Gopal Kiranti (Maoist) - Local Development - Ram Chandra Jha (UML) - Labor and Transportation - Lekh Raj Bhatta (Maoist) - Environment, Science and Technology - Ganesh Shah (Communist Party of Nepal - United) Biographic information on the new ministers will follow septel. Compromise on Protocol -------------- KATHMANDU 00000982 002 OF 002 ¶4. (C) The resolution of a protocol dispute paved the way for the induction of the new ministers. PM Dahal agreed on August 28 to allow Bamdev Gautam, a former deputy prime minister plagued with a history of corruption, to hold the second-ranked position in the cabinet hierarchy. The UML had demanded this change at the eleventh hour, using it as an excuse to refuse to swear in its ministers on August 22 (reftel). The Ambassador was told by ONE Embassy contact that Finance Minister Bhattarai had nearly resigned from the government over the issue. Prior to Gautam's appointment, Bhattarai held the second position in the cabinet. Dahal's appointment of Hisila Yami, Bhattarai's wife, to the cabinet reportedly helped persuade Bhattarai to stay on. A senior UML politician, Bhim Rawal, indicated to the Ambassador on August 29 that Bhattarai may still be Acting PM in Dahal's absence. Comment -------------- ¶4. (C) The appointment of an essentially complete cabinet is a welcome step forward. Nepalis have been waiting for over four months for a new government to address the country's many issues. In that regard, the selection of Bamdev Gautam for Home Minister and Deputy PM is extremely unfortunate. In 1997, when Gautam was Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for seven months, he was implicated in using the government machinery to support a gold smuggling ring. According to local observers, Gautam is perfectly happy to work outside the law and would be willing to close shady deals that other party leaders, mindful about their careers, would not. According to the Indian Political Counselor Shambu Kumaran, the Maoists insisted that Gautam, an ultra leftist who has advocated merging the UML into the Maoists, have the Home Ministry and lead the UML's cabinet delegation. After two years of a rapidly deteriorating security situation and poor morale among the police under former Home Minister Krishna Sitaula -- whose fecklessness and bad judgment eroded the credibility of the Nepali Congress party -- the Government of Nepal can ill afford yet another contentious politician in one of the country's top positions. POWELL