(Updated at 2300 NST, 1815 GMT)
KATHMANDU, July 24: The government on Friday picked Peace and Reconstruction Secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire as chief secretary, the topmost post in the civil service while also deciding to reinstate Bijaya Nath Bhattarai as governor of Nepal Rastra Bank.
Ghimire was chosen from among the three seniormost secretaries who were in the race for the coveted bureaucratic post. [break]
Umesh Mainali, who was in the race with Ghimire, has been appointed principal secretary at the Office of the President. Another contender Janak Raj Joshi said he is resigning from his post on Sunday in protest.
While Ghimire had been serving as secretary at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction for the past two years, Mainali was at the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Both Ghimire and Mainali were promoted secretaries on the same day about five years ago.
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Janak Raj Joshi, currently serving as secretary at the National Planning Commission, was also in the race for chief secretary.
A cabinet meeting at Singha Durbar decided to appoint Ghimire as the chief secretary and Mainali as principal secretary of the president. Ghimire will be given the responsibility to serve as the chief of the bureaucracy and assist the government while Mainali will be handling all affairs at the president´s office.
Ghimire joined the civil service 27 years ago as an audit officer. Earlier he had worked at the Ministry of General Administration and Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism as secretary.
A source close to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said the two positions will have equal powers. The source claimed that the government was compelled to create the two equal positions following massive pressure from various political parties.
“Both the positions will have equal powers and that could create confusion in the days to come” a highly-placed government official told Republica. This is the first time that the country is seeing two top positions with equal powers. Some administrative experts have expressed reservations, saying there might be duplication of work.
Joshi to resign Sunday
One of the three contenders for chief secretary, Janak Raj Joshi, announced on Friday that he would tender his resignation to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Sunday.
Joshi decided to quit expressing reservations over the government decision. “I will absolutely submit my resignation to the prime minister on Sunday as the government did me an injustice,” Joshi told Republica. “I am seniormost among the three. I don´t consider myself as less competent than the others.”
Bhattarai reinstated as governor
The cabinet also reinstated Bijaya Nath Bhattarai to the post of Nepal Rastra Bank´s governor. He was suspended from the post after the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed a case against him at the Special Court on charge of corruption some two years ago. The Supreme Court two weeks ago acquitted him of the charges.
Ambassadors appointed
The cabinet appointed outgoing Chief Secretary Bhoj Raj Ghimire and Sushil Chandra Amatya as ambassadors to Canada and Sri Lanka respectively.
