22-28 March 2013 #648

Fresh perspective

DINESH SHRESTHA

In his first week on the job Khil Raj Regmi is systematically ticking off his main agenda items in order of priority:

Form a cabinet of technocrats

Fill headless constitutional bodies, most importantly the Election Commission

Amend constitutional provisions for elections

Day-to-day governance

Get disgruntled small parties to row in the same direction.

But the first test of whether Chairman Regmi can stand up to the Big Four will be if he agrees to Lok Man Singh Karki’s CIAA candidacy. If Karki is appointed, it will confirm the worst suspicions that the cabinet is a rubber stamp body.