US embassy cable - 05KATHMANDU2743

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 002743 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, PHUM, NP 
SUBJECT: KING RESHUFFLES CABINET 
 
REF: A. KATHMANDU 2042 
     B. KATHMANDU 1521 
     C. KATHMANDU 2556 
 
Classified By: Charge Elisabeth Millard. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
Cabinet Reshuffle 
------------------ 
 
1. (SBU) On December 7, King Gyanendra reshuffled his cabinet 
for the third time since February 1, keeping both Vice 
Chairmen Tulsi Giri and Kirti Nidhi Bista, and Foreign 
Minster Ramesh Nath Pandey.  He did not appoint a Prime 
Minister.  The King included 18 new faces (four new to 
national government service) in the 35 member cabinet, which 
includes two vice chairmen, 12 ministers, 7 state ministers 
and 14 assistant ministers.  The King removed several 
controversial ministers from his cabinet, including Home 
Minister Dan Bahadur Shahi and Assistant Minister for 
Education and Sports Senate Shrestha (fertilizer scandal, ref 
A), Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Durga 
Shrestha (misuse of government vehicles), Assistant Minister 
for Physical Planning and Works (hooliganism, ref B) and 
Finance Minister Madhukar Shumser Rana.  The King gave the 
Chairmen of the Rastriya Prajantantra Party (the third 
largest party in the dissolved House of Representatives), the 
recently formed Prajatantrik Nepal Party, and the Nepal 
Samata Party seats as ministers in the new cabinet.  The 
portfolios of the ministers are as follows: 
 
Chairman King Gyanendra 
 
Vice Chairmen 
1  Dr Tulsi Giri- Minister for Water Resources 
2  Kirtinidhi Bista 
 
Ministers 
3  Badri Prasad Mandal- General Administration 
4  Keshar Bahadur Bista- Agriculture and Cooperatives 
5  Ramesh Nath Pandey- Foreign Affairs 
6  Radha Krishna Mainali- Education and Sports 
7  Kamal Thapa- Home 
8  Buddiman Tamang- Industry, Commerce and Supply 
9  Salim Miya Ansari- Forest and Soil Conservation 
10 Prakash Koirala- Environment and Science and Technology 
11 Narayan Singh Pun- Land Reform and Management 
12 Buddhi Raj Bajracharya- Without Portfolio 
13 Tanka Dhakal- Local Development 
14 Niranjan Thapa- Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs 
 
State Ministers 
15 Rabindra Khanal- Labour and Transport Management 
16 Dr Roop Jyoti- Finance 
17 Yankila Sherpa- Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation 
18 Mani Lama- Health and Population 
19 Brajesh Kumar Gupta- Physical Planning and Works 
20 Dr Durga Pokharel- Women, Children and Social Welfare 
21 Shreesh Shumsher Rana- Information and Communications 
 
Asst. Ministers 
22 Hari Shankar Pariyar- Forest and Soil Conservation 
23 Binod Kumar Shah- Water Resources 
24 Chhaka Bahadur Lama- Physical Planning and Works 
25 Golchhe Sarki- Women, Children and Social Welfare 
26 Nikshya Shumsher Rana- Health and Population 
27 Govind Chaudhary- Agriculture and Cooperative 
28 Yagna Bahadur Budathoki- Land Reform and Management 
29 Toran Bahaduur Gurung- General Administration 
30 Roshan Karki- Local Development 
31 Bhuwan Pathak- Education and Sports 
32 Rajesh Kaji Shrestha- Industry, Commerce and Supply 
33 Tek Narayan Rajbanshi- Labour and Transport Management 
34 Pratap Ram Lohar- Environment and Science and Technology 
35 Sonelal Yadav- Home 
 
RPP Background of Many Newly Appointed Ministers 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
2. (SBU) Six of the central members of the Rastriya 
Prajantantra Party (RPP) have been brought into the new 
cabinet, including Home Minister Kamal Thapa.  Thapa is a 
career politician who earned a reputation as an opportunist 
in 1996 when he repeatedly changed sides during Parliamentary 
maneuvering to bring down the Sher Bahadur Deuba government. 
Thapa served as Foreign Minister in 1997, and Minister of 
Information and Communications in 2003.  He was active in the 
peace process at that time and was allotted the additional 
portfolio of Home Affairs from March to November 2004. 
Narayan Singh Pun, President of the Nepal Samatra Party, is 
the Land Reform and Management Minister.  Pun, a retired 
Royal Nepalese Army Colonel who served as a pilot for 22 
years, was elected to the House of Representatives in 1999 
from the Nepali Congress Party and was appointed Assistant 
Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation in 1999.  After 
serving as a Minister in Prime Minister Chand's cabinet in 
2002, Pun coordinated directly between the Palace and the 
Maoists, and was appointed Chief Government Negotiator in 
January 2003, until the resignation of Chand in May 2003. 
Buddhiman Tamang, also an RPP member, is the new Minister of 
Industry, Commerce and Supplies.  Tamang was most recently 
Minister of Physical Planning and Works in Thapa's 2003 
cabinet.  Tamang is known as a staunch supporter of Surya 
Bahadur Thapa and was one of 13 Council of Ministers who 
supported Thapa during the no-confidence motion which brought 
down Thapa's government.  Dr. Roop Jyoti, the new Finance 
Minister, is seen as being very close to the business 
community in Nepal as he was Assistant Finance Minister and 
comes from the Jyoti Group, an influential industrial house. 
Shreesh Shumsher Rana, the new Communications Minister, is 
rumored to have been working behind the scenes with the 
Palace before the announcement. 
 
Lukewarm Reaction of Political Leaders 
-------------------------------------- 
 
3. (C) While skeptical of the King's move, Party leaders did 
admit the new ministers had better reputations than the 
people they replaced.  Jhalanath Khanal, Central Committee 
Member of the (UML), called this cabinet "a little better 
than the previous one," as the corrupt ministers had been 
ousted. Khanal noted that the King was trying to show support 
from different political parties, but by not including the 
major Parties he only showed that he did not care about them. 
 Hridayesh Tripathi, General Secretary of the Nepal 
Sadbhavana Party-Anandidevi, agreed that ousting corrupt 
ministers was "good," but noted it would not fundamentally 
change the political situation of the country.  Tripathi said 
that the reshuffle showed that the King intended to continue 
with his plan for municipal elections, which Tripathi 
believed would enable the King to continue to be an active 
monarch with no plan to hand over power to the people. 
Minendra Rijal, Spokesperson of the Nepali Congress 
(Democratic), said the reshuffle showed no sign of 
willingness to compromise from the King, and noted it was 
"unfortunate for the King and the monarchy." 
 
New Minister's Surprised Reaction to Appointment 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
4. (C) Dr. Durga Pokharel, new State Minister for Women, 
Children and Social Welfare, was attending an informal 
gathering of woman leaders at Emboff's home when she learned 
of her appointment.  She told Emboff that Vice-Chairman Giri 
had called her two weeks ago and asked if she wanted the 
position, but made no mention of a time frame.  Emboff said 
that Pokharel appeared genuinely surprised and that all in 
attendance welcomed the news. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
5. (C) While the reshuffling of the cabinet removed several 
controversial ministers, others remained.  The move does 
nothing to increase dialogue between the Palace and the major 
Parties.  The reshuffling is an indication that the King 
intends to stay the course in promoting municipal elections, 
while the Parties, along with the Maoists, continue their 
demand for constituent assembly elections (ref C).  The 
timing of the reshuffle may be linked with the upcoming visit 
to Kathmandu of Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran. Saran, 
who previously served as Indian Ambassador to Nepal, will 
reportedly meet with King. 
MILLARD