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Prime Minister Sushila Karki has decided to downsize her secretariat and the experts' group.

Now, there will be only six persons at the PM Secretariat, states a press release issued by spokesperson at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Hemraj Aryal. 

The statement mentions that in the Secretariat, only six positions are maintained: one chief advisor, one public relations advisor, one chief personal secretary, one press coordinator, one personal section officer (photographer), and one public health expert (honorary).

It is stated that Prime Minister Karki has repealed all the remaining appointments at the PM Secretariat to be effective from today, November 27.

According to the Prime Minister's Advisor and Secretariat Management Procedures 2074 (Eleventh Amendment 2081), there are 66 sanctioned postings of various positions in the Prime Minister's Secretariat.

Prime Minister Karki had made appointments only to extremely essential positions, creating a secretariat of just 20 people. 

Now, it is going to be reduced further from 20 to just six.

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has unveiled a 39-point action plan to ensure effectiveness of the public service delivery. 

The action plan includes policy and legal facilitation for promotion of business governance; microenterprise development for poverty alleviation; protection and promotion of traditional and local business of the Dalit community and creation of employment opportunities.

For the tasks to materialize, the Ministry has set a deadline for mid-February of 2026 to prepare draft of the needed bill and amend the existing guidelines for enabling industrial and business environment for the promotion of investment.

Ministry's Spokesperson Jitendra Basnet said the move is aimed at implementing the projects announced in the budget of the current fiscal year. 

Basnet shared that different line agencies of the Ministry are held accountable for the implementation of the action plan. 

The action plan also includes process simplification to provide loans for startups; safe and systematic records management, company registration and others. 

Likewise, the other issues are for policy reforms on multilateral trade and implementation of the related policies and their capacity buildup, and enhancement of the bilateral trade and transport system.

The CPN-UML, the second largest party in the dissolved House of Representatives, appears to have a two-pronged strategy in a fluid political context as two recent moves of the party indicate.    

Mahesh Bartauala, chief whip of the UML parliamentary party in the dissolved House of Representatives (HoR), and Sunita Baral have filed a writ at the Supreme Court seeking reinstatement of the HoR. 

At the same time, the CPN-UML has registered itself at the Election Commission, making it clear that it is ready to contest the HoR elections slated for March 5 next year. 

Niraj Acharya, head of the party’s Election Department, and Office Secretary Bhishma Adhikari submitted the party registration application at the Election Commission, becoming the 66th registered party vying for the polls. 

After the registration, department Head Acharya said that UML is a party that completes all legal procedures for every type of election, and therefore the party has been registered accordingly.

The deadline for registering political parties for the HoR elections is until Mangsir 10 (Nov 26). 

According to Bartauala, the UML has moved the court seeking the reinstatement of the House of Representatives on the following counts.

1. Since Sushila Karki, a retired chief justice, is neither a member of the House of Representatives nor does she enjoy support from the parliamentary party of any political party for premiership, her appointment as Prime Minister is unconstitutional and in violation of Articles 76 and 132(2) of the Constitution. Therefore, the court should issue an order of certiorari against her appointment as PM.

2. The court should quash the Sept 12 decision of the President to appoint Sushila Karki as the PM, the swearing-in conducted on that basis and all other relevant appointments, along with all other illegal and unconstitutional actions, decisions and appointments. 

3. The presidential decision to dissolve the HoR, made on Sept 12 on the recommendation of PM Karki, should be quashed and the HoR reinstated. All state bodies and institutions that existed on that date should continue to function like they did before, and an order of mandamus should be issued in the name of respondents.

4. The court should issue a mandamus order to the President to begin the process of forming a new government in accordance with Article 76 of the Constitution.

5. It should issue a mandamus order to the Speaker and the Parliament Secretariat to make necessary arrangements for convening the session of the reinstated HoR.

6. After the reinstatement of the HoR, the court should issue an order of prohibition directing the government constituted unconstitutionally to halt all activities related to the HoR elections.

7. Considering the seriousness and sensitivity of the subject matter, this petition needs to be decided promptly. The respondents should be ordered to submit their written replies, and a continuous hearing conducted by fixing a date for the hearing.

The CPN-UML today filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court, seeking reinstatement of the House of Representatives (HoR).

Chief Whip of the UML Parliamentary Party in the dissolved HoR, Mahesh Bartaula, and Whip Sunita Baral jointly filed the writ petition at the apex court. 

The writ petition has demanded the revocation of appointment of Prime Minister Sushila Karki, the decision of HoR dissolution as well as all the decisions and appointments made after HoR dissolution. 

Chief Whip Bartaula mentioned that the writ petition has urged Karki's appointment be declared unconstitutional, stating that she was appointed to the post of Prime Minister against Article 76 and 132 (2) of the Constitution.  

Similarly, the UML has sought annulment of the decisions of appointments, oath and all government actions and decisions made by the President.