Govt shies away from key appointments

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: A number of crucial positions in the country’s constitutional bodies have remained vacant due to government’s failure to make appointments, despite receiving directives from the State Affairs Committee.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority has been operating without a chief commissioner and commissioners. The posts of chief commissioners at the Election Commission and Public Service Commission are also vacant. The country has not had an Auditor General for more than two years.

The previous government had made recommendations to the Constitutional Council, which makes the appointments, last year but the process was stalled when the Supreme Court scrapped the recommendations .

“Filling the vacancies in constitutional bodies is crucial for good governance,” Speaker Subas Chandra Nembang told this daily. “But the Constitutional Council’s meeting has not been scheduled,” Nembang, who is also an ex-officio member of the Constitutional Council said.

Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha, another ex-officio member of the Constitutional Council, also expressed his dissatisfaction over the government’s failure to make the appointments. “I am going on a leave one month prior to my retirement date–– May 5. The government needs to hold the council’s meeting soon,” Shrestha said.

The CIAA’s operations have been hampered due to the absence of commissioners at a time when the anti-graft body is investigating cases such as the purchase of Armoured Personnel Carriers by Nepal Police’s Darfur Mission

However, PM Khanal’s press adviser Surya Thapa said the appointments will be made after the government takes full shape.