In a move to implement federalism in full as envisioned in the new constitution, the government has formed a high-level Federalism Implementation and Restructuring Directive Committee under the leadership of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
A cabinet meeting held at Baluwatar on Friday decided to form the 11-member high-level committee to oversee the overall task of state restructuring at all three levels--federal, provincial and local--of the federal setup envisioned by the new constitution.
According to Information Minister Sher Dhan Rai, Defense Minister Bhim Rawal, Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel, Home Minister Shakti Basnet, Law Minister Agni Kharel, Minister for General Administration Rekha Sharma and Vice-chairman of National Planning Commission Dr Yubaraj Khatiwada have been appointed members of the committee while Chief Secretary Som Lal Subedi has been appointed the committee's member-secretary.
The meeting also decided to form a nine-member Federalism Implementation and Administration Restructuring Coordination Committee under the leadership of Chief Secretary Subedi. Secretaries of the Defense Ministry, Finance Minister, Home Ministry, Law Ministry, Ministry of General Administration, Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development and the Office of the Prime Minister have been appointed as members of the committee. A joint secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister will be member-secretary of the committee.
"The coordination committee will formulate policies to define the jurisdictions of the federal, provincial and local governments and the interrelations between the three tiers of government. Similarly, the committee will also determine the necessary government bodies required at the three levels of government in the new federal setup," said Minister Rai, who is spokesperson of the government.
The coordination committee will forward the policies formulated and other recommendations and plans for state restructuring to the high-level committee for necessary review and endorsement, said Minister Rai.
The new constitution includes a provision according to which 20 different issues will be dealt with by the federal government, 28 issues by provincial governments and 20 issues by local governments.
According to Rai, the coordination committee will also coordinate with the Local Bodies Restructuring Commission, recently formed under the leadership of former secretary Balananda Poudel, for restructuring local governance in the federal setup.
The commission has been tasked with making recommendations on the numbers and boundaries of village councils, municipalities and special, protected or autonomous areas. Likewise, the coordination committee will also work closely with another committee, the High-Level Administration Reform Monitoring Committee, which is led by Kashi Raj Dahal. The monitoring committee is working to formulate a clear road map for adapting the exiting public administration and bureaucracy to the federal system in the most efficient way.
The high-level committee led by the prime minister will also take initiatives to reach a common understanding among political leaderships on the number of ministries at the central and provincial levels, as proposed by the new constitution.
DPM Thapa unhappy with PM for excluding him from committee
The formation of the PM-led committee has caused a rift among the major ruling parties. Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa, who is also minister for federal affairs and local development, has boycotted the cabinet meeting to show his displeasure at not being included in the committee for implementing federalism.
Sources said Thapa, who is also chairman of Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, the fourth largest party in Parliament, is seriously unhappy over the decision.
RPP-N leaders said that the party has left no stone unturned when it comes to implementing the new constitution even though it has officially registered some reservations over some of its key provisions. "We used our party's full strength while implementing the government's month-long constitution awareness campaign. But now our party has been boycotted while forming the key body for implementing the constitution," an RPP-N leader who is close to Thapa told Republica, requesting anonymity.
The RPP-N leader argued that as the constitution awareness campaign was successfully carried out by the ministry of federal affairs and local development, which is headed by Thapa himself, it was pointless to boycott the RPP-N while forming such a crucial body.
RPP-N deputy spokesperson Mohan Shrestha said that Thapa is displeased at not being included in the committee. "It shouldn't be a big issue as it can be settled once the prime minister and deputy prime minister sit together and discuss the matter,"
Keywords : K.P. Sharma Oli, Nepal Government, Mohan Shrestha, Kamal Thapa
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