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Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has recommended advocate Dr Dinmani Pokharel for the post of Attorney General. The Attorney General is the chief legal advisor of the government and is appointed by the President at the recommendation of the prime minister. Pokharel was the legal advisor of the then Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar. Attorney General Khamma Bahadur Khati resigned on Monday after the formation of a new government under the leadership of CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. There is a culture of changing the legal advisor of the government with the change of the government.  

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that the government’s main priority is to improve the country’s economy. During a meeting with the office bearers of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries on Tuesday, Dahal assured that the government will move ahead by cooperating with the private sector. Receiving the suggestions of a delegation led by CNI Chairman Bishnu Kumar Agrawal, PM Dahal said that the main focus of the government is to improve the economy. “I was expecting the same thing from the private sector. The Confederation has clearly given plans for improvement. I would like to thank the Confederation for the same,” he said, adding, “We have given priority to the economy from the first meeting of the Cabinet. We will move forward by cooperating with the private sector.” The delegation held a meeting with Prime Minister Dahal at his private residence in Khumaltar this morning. Congratulating Dahal on behalf of the private sector for being appointed as the prime minister and wishing him for the successful tenure, Agrawal suggested that the new government’s first priority should be improving the country’s economy which is in a dire state.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Monday administered the oath of office and secrecy to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal at Sheetal Niwas. Seven other members of the Dahal Cabinet, including three deputy prime ministers, also took the oath from the President in the presence of PM Dahal. Of the Cabinet members, two are from the CPN (Maoist Center), four from CPN-UML and one each from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and the CK Raut-led Janamat Party. They are deputy prime ministers Rabi Lamichhane, chairman of RSP; Narayan Kaji Shrestha, senior vice-chair of CPN (Maoist Center); and Bishnu Poudel, vice-chairman of UML. Lamichhane holds the additional portfolio of the Ministry of Home Affairs, whereas Poudel and Shrestha hold the portfolios of the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Physical Planning and Infrastructure, respectively. For Lamichhane, who formed RSP about seven months ago, it was a meteoric rise to power. Earlier, there were reports that the party had two minds about joining the upcoming government. But Lamichhane put those doubts to rest by staking claim on the Home Ministry. The Cabinet has Damodar Bhandari, Jwala Kumari Sah, Rajendra Rai from the UML and Abdul Khan from the Janamat Party as ministers without portfolio. The work division of these ministers is to be decided later, probably in the second round of Cabinet expansion. PM Dahal, chair of the Maoist party, had struck a deal with UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, ditching a ruling dispensation with the Nepali Congress. The deal materialized after indications that the NC, which led the erstwhile five-party ruling coalition and emerged as the largest party in Nov 20 federal and provincial elections, appeared unlikely to give the Maoist party any major role in the upcoming dispensation. NC’s last-ditch effort to salvage the coalition failed, effectively relegating the largest party in the House of Representatives to the opposition bench. RSP, Janamat Party and the Laxman Tharu-led Nagarik Unmukti Party also came on board at Sunday’s Dahal-Oli meet at the latter’s residence in Balkot, ensuring a 170-strong majority in the House of Representatives that has a total of 275 seats. Unlike in the beginning of his earlier stints as prime minister, Dahal this time took the oath donning Daura-Suruwal, capping it all with the Bhadgaunle Topi. Is this minor change an indication of a more effective and efficient premiership in the offing? Or the adage that the more things change, the more they remain the same will hold true, again? Only time will tell.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered the oath of office and secrecy to newly appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and some ministers on Monday. Eight ministers including Prime Minister Dahal took the oath of office and secrecy amidst a program in Sheetal Niwas this afternoon. Two ministers from the CPN (Maoist Center), four ministers from the CPN-UML and one each from Rastriya Swatantra Party and Janamat Party took the oath today. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Infrastructure Narayankaji Shrestha of the CPN (Maoist Center), Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel of the CPN-UML, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane of the Rastriya Swatantara Party and Abdul Khan of the Janamat Party took the oath. Similarly, Jwala Kumari Sah, Damodar Bhandari, and Rajendra Rai also took the oath of office and secrecy as ministers. Maoist Center Chairman Dahal becam the prime minister with the support of seven political parties including the CPN-UML and some independent lawmakers on Sunday. Though the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party had extended support to the government, they have decided not to join the government.