KIRAN PANDAY IN THE NAME OF PEOPLE: PM Dahal administers the oath of office and secrecy to the eight ministers of the new cabinet.

While the Council of Ministers is finally taking shape, the squabbles between the major parties of the new coalition government still has not ended. The UML refused to take part in Friday's swearing-in ceremony after the Maoist did not agree to have a UML leader second in line on the protocol list after Prime Minister Dahal.

It was important to form the cabinet before Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's departure to China to participate in the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. The names of the ministers were finalised only on Friday and the ministerial hierarchy was yet to be decided. The UML objected that its Home Minister Bam Deb Gautam was not second in line on the protocol list after Prime Minister Dahal.

Meanwhile, eight new ministers from the Maoists and the MJF took oath of office and secrecy from the Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal in presence of President Ram Baran Yadav at the Singha Darbar. The Maoists ministers include Dr Babu Ram Bhattarai (Finance), Ram Bahadur Thapa (Defense), Deb Gurung (Law, Justice) and Krishna Bahadur Mahara (Information and Communication). The ministers from MJF include party chairman Upendra Yadav (Foreign Affairs), Bijay Kumar Gachhadar (Works and Transport), Jay Prakash Gupta (Agriculture) and Renu Yadav (Education).

For the ministrial positions the UML had recommended Bam Deb Gautam (Deputy PM and Home), 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). Although some of the UML leaders had arrived all prepared to take the oath, they did not participate in the ceremony.

Dewan Rai

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