Nepal minister quits two days after joining Deuba's Cabinet

Nepals Industry, Commerce and Supplies Minister Gajendra Bahadur Hamal resigned on Sunday following a controversy over his appointment, just 48 hours after his formal induction into the Cabinet. Hamal tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who accepted it, according to the Cabinet sources.

Nepal’s Industry, Commerce, and Supplies Minister Gajendra Bahadur Hamal resigned on Sunday following a controversy over his appointment, just 48 hours after his formal induction into the Cabinet. Hamal tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who accepted it, according to the Cabinet sources. Hamal, a district-level leader of the Nepali Congress, drew considerable flak after the media reports suggested that he was appointed a minister at the recommendation of Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana, who happens to be his brother-in-law.

Consequently, Hamal's elevation had also created unrest within the Nepali Congress, with many members terming it a move that undermined democratic values.

Hamal is also not a member of either the Lower or Upper House of Parliament. However, there is a provision in the Constitution that one can become a cabinet member for a six months period even if he or she is not a lawmaker.

According to sources, Hamal had resigned after facing relentless pressure over his appointment.

''Currently, the news spread in various media outlets and lawyers have unfairly misrepresented my appointment, and such news has devalued my years of struggle for democracy, rule of law, and the principle of separation of powers between state organs.

“However, since the question of my appointment has been raised, I have resigned from the post of the minister as it is not appropriate for me to remain as a minister amid such speculations,'' Hamal wrote in his resignation letter.

Hamal was one of the 18 ministers appointed by Prime Minister Deuba on Friday, almost three months after he assumed office on July 13.

Deuba became prime minister after a constitutional bench led by Chief Justice Rana had restored the House of Representatives, which was earlier dissolved by the erstwhile premier K P Sharma Oli.

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