Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam is leading a group of his Cabinet colleagues from the Nepali Congress and is using Prime Minister Sushil Koirala’s absence from Kathmandu to try to oust Chief Secretary Lilamani Poudel.
Information Minister Minendra Rijal, Minister Prakash Man Singh and Finance Minister Ramsharan Mahat are said to support Gautam in an attempt to sideline Poudel and were persistently pressuring Koirala while he was in New York. The two vying for Poudel’s job are Industries Secretary Krishna Gyawali and Finance Secretary Yubaraj Bhusal. Poudel was appointed two years ago and still has one more year to go in his job.
Although Gautam and the NC ministers have wanted to replace Poudel ever since the formation of the coalition government six months ago, the UML has stood by him. The reason for Gautam’s aversion to the Chief Secretary is because of his perception that Poudel did not support his shuffle of police AIGs.
Said one secretary: “The Chief Secretary takes a tough stance on just about every proposal discussed in the Cabinet. His professional integrity, decisiveness, knowledge and diligence are the very characters that have made him unpopular.”
After being stung by the media uproar over his transfer of Kathmandu SP Kharel, Gautam doesn’t want to take the flak for removing Poudel and wants to pin the blame on the NC. Yubaraj Bhusal is NC acting Chairman Ram Chandra Poudel’s in-law and most NC minister as well as Gautam are said to have a soft corner for him as Chief Secretary. Finance Minister Mahat is said to favour Krishna Gyawali.
Whoever gets the post, it is clear that the politicisation of Poudel’s removal will undermine the bureaucracy. What has protected Poudel so far is his image of integrity and being a do-er, who has got his hands and feet dirty in the Bagmati cleaning campaign, in abolishing the bus cartel in Jomsom, in ensuring quality health care, in the conservation of the Chure and dozens of other public service initaitives. No minister wants to be blamed for the protests that his ouster will unleash.
Poudel has served under Baburam Bhattarai and Khilraj Regmi, and has demonstrated that he is an honest and efficient manager. Some Congress supporters accuse Poudel of being pro-Maoist, but there is no proof of that. After serving in tourism, communication, home ministries, in the NEA and after being appointed Chief Secretary Poudel didn’t just twiddle his thumbs and complain. He tried to get things done.