Ruling parties in Nepal fail to reach consensus on power-sharing deal

Kathmandu:  Nepal's 10-party ruling alliance on Thursday failed to reach a consensus on the power-sharing deal, causing yet another delay in the expansion of the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda".

Top leaders held meetings at the Prime Minister's official residence here at Baluwatar to reach an agreement on the distribution of ministries among various political parties.

Power sharing and the distribution of ministerial portfolios were the major bottlenecks among the members of the ruling alliance as the demand for Cabinet posts was exceeding the number of ministries available, officials said.

Prachanda is now likely to expand his Cabinet on Friday, said Surya Kiran Sharma, Press Coordinator of the Prime Minister.

Among the 10 parties in the ruling alliance, nine are likely to join the council of ministers.

At present, there are only six Cabinet ministers, including the Prime Minister and one minister of state in the Prachanda-led government, as ministers from CPN-UML, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, and Rashtriya Swotantra Party had resigned from the posts following the break up of the seven-party coalition.

Currently, Prachanda is overburdened with about 16 ministerial portfolios, including the ministries of Home, Finance, Foreign, Industry and Commerce, Science and Technology, and Agriculture.

Prachanda was sworn in as Nepal's Prime Minister on December 26 last year.