It took less than an hour for PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal to persuade UML general secretary Jhalnath Khanal to join his cabinet. Once their demand of having Bam Deb Gautam second in line on the protocol list after Dahal was met, UML had no qualms about joining the government.

After meeting the PM at the Maoists Parliamentarian Party Office in Singh Durbar, Jhalnath Khanal told the press that his nominees would take oath of office tomorrow. Khanal also made it clear that there would not be any changes in the name list of nominees for the cabinet. The UML nominees for the ministerial positions were Bishnu Poudel (Water Resource), Astha Laxmi Shakya (Industries and Commerce), Ram Chandra Jha (Local Development), Kiran Gurung (Forest and Soil Conservation) and Gopal Shakya (Youth and Sports Ministry).

"We wouldn't have agreed to join the government if the Maoists had ignored our terms and condition," Khanal told the press.

Dahal is all set to administer oath of office to six UML ministers tomorrow.The UML had refused to take part in last week's swearing-in ceremony after the Maoist did not agree to have a UML leader as the deputy PM.

Meanwhile, the three parties, in an earlier meeting, had agreed to increase the number of ministries from 21 to 24. The Maoists now need to finalise five names and small parties four to complete the cabinet. One can hope now that the cabinet will be inclusive.

Dewan Rai