The CC meeting, that lasted nearly two hours, agreed to formulate objective and transparent criteria to select qualified candidates at the statutory bodies.[break]
"We have asked officials at the CC secretariat to develop criteria defining the entire process of appointments," said Speaker Subas Nembang, who is a member of the CC, adding, "The CC will pick those who have filed applications and do so based on a mechanism to be formulated shortly."
Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire had briefed Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, chairman of the CC, and other CC members about the numbers applying for various posts at four constitutional bodies.
According to Speaker Nembang, altogether 268 individuals have filed applications at the OPMCM for appointments to the bodies.
Of the total, 177 have applied for the posts of chief commissioner and members at the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), 126 have filed applications for either chief or members of the Election Commission of Nepal (ECN), 131 for the post of chief of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and 24 for chief of the Office of Auditor General (OAG). Most applicants are found to have applied for up to three posts.
The posts of chiefs and members at the CIAA, ECN, PSC and OAG have been lying vacant for long. Due to differences between major parties over power-sharing, several attempts in the past failed to give full shape to the aforesaid constitutional bodies.
Ex-bureaucrats ask PM to out Gupta from CC
Meanwhile, former bureaucrats on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Bhattarai through his secretariat to immediately remove Information Minister Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta as a member of the CC.
"Decisions to be taken by the CC will be dragged into controversy if Minister Gupta, who has a corruption case pending against him at the Supreme Court, is not removed as CC member," reads the memorandum, adding, "A person who is under trial cannot be a member of the CC, which appoints chiefs and members at bodies including the CIAA."
Submitting a three-point memorandum on behalf of the Campaign Against Corruption (CAC), former chief of the CIAA Surya Nath Upadhaya, former secretaries Bhoj Raj Pokharel and Rameshewor Khanal, prominent comedians Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bansha Acharya, and Dr Sameer Mani Dixit are among those who have drawn the attention of the PM stating that the decisions of the CC will not be valid constitutionally and politically if Gupta is not removed as CC member.
They have also demanded a transparent mechanism for the appointments process. Through the memo, they have requested the PM to punish incumbent ministers involved in wrong practices and probe misuse of state coffers while distributing salaries and other perks to former Maoist rebels.
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