The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) sent the clarification to the PHSC after the latter on Friday decided to conduct hearings for nominees only after receiving a ´fully inclusive´ list of nominations. [break]A cabinet meeting held on January 17 had nominated six career diplomats and four political appointees to fill 10 of the total 12 vacant envoy positions.
The clarification letter while stating that the government including the MoFA is committed to ensuring representation of the all groups of people in all state structures as provisioned in the Interim Constitution 2063 BS has made it clear that the envoy nominations were made as per the government policy to pick 50 percent envoys from among career diplomats and the rest from political nominations.
The letter further stated that MoFA is committed to making the nominations ´fully inclusive´, according to PHSC sources. "The nomination of envoys from among career diplomats is made on the basis of seniority. Since the recruitment of new officers on the basis of the principle of inclusiveness has recently begun, the nominations of envoys will automatically become inclusive in due course of time," states the clarification letter.
The letter added that the nominations of four of the six envoys made from among political nominees is also based on the principle of inclusiveness.
Those nominated for envoys from among career diplomats include Shankar Bairagi (Geneva), Rudra Nepal (Australia), Mukti Nath Bhatta (Denmark), Bharat Raj Paudyal (Pakistan), Paras Ghimire (Myanmar) and Prahlad Prasain (Israel).
Likewise, the cabinet had nominated Maoist party loyalists Ravi Mohan Sapkota (Russia), Ram Mani Pokharel (Belgium), Dr Maya Kumari Sharma (Qatar) and Kaman Singh Lama (South Korea).
A next meeting of PHSC scheduled to be held ´soon´ will discuss the government clarification and decide on whether to proceed with the hearings for the envoy nominees, said PHSC member Laxman Ghimire.
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