A meeting of the PHSC held at Singha Durbar decided to stall the hearing, saying that the cabinet decision to recommend a hearing for Shrestha flouted a provision of the Constituent Assembly and Legislature-Parliament Regulations.[break]
As per Clause 119 of the Regulations, the cabinet can recommend a name for parliamentary hearing only after the proposed ambassadorial post falls vacant.
PHSC member Laxman Ghimire, who is also chief whip of the Nepali Congress, said the hearing was stalled as the cabinet´s recommendation letter itself clearly says that the ambassadorial post in Bangladesh will fall vacant only on November 13, 2011. “We have decided to write to the foreign ministry seeking clarification as to why such a recommendation was made,” he said.
The parliamentary meeting also decided to seek clarification if the media report that the current envoy to Bangladesh, Pradip Khatiwada, was being ´punished´ for trying to pay tax on his allowances was true. “We have decided to summon the foreign minister and the foreign secretary to the meeting after reading their clarifications,” Ghimire further said.
A cabinet meeting on June 22 recommended Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Shrestha as Nepal´s new envoy to Bangladesh. Shrestha, who heads the South Asia and SAARC Division at MoFA, is retiring from the civil service on July 3.
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