11 June 2019
Acting Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishwor Pokharel said on Monday that the government would not interfere in the recent vacancies announced by the Public Service Commission.
Talking to media persons at the Biratnagar Airport, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Pokharel said that the executive body would not interfere in the work of the constitutional body that it performed as per the provision of the Constitution.“Although there is a constitutional provision to set up Public Service Commission at the state level, the Commissions in the States are yet to be formed. Therefore, the federal Commission has opened the vacancy to fulfill the demand of the local bodies across the country.
Stating that the three organs of the government and the constitutional bodies should abide by the Constitution, Pokharel reiterated that the vacancy announcement of the Commission was as per the constitutional provision.
“There are two options to recruit the staffers at the state and local levels. First is by hiring temporary staffers and second by recruiting them through permanent appointment process by the Commission. The recent vacancy announcement is as per the second option which is constitutional,” he said.
The main opposition party, Nepali Congress, and a section of the ruling lawmakers are demanding the cancellation of the vacancy, claiming that it was against the constitutional provision as well as the principle of inclusion. He also said that the vacancy was not only according to the constitutional provision but also in line with the principle of inclusion.
“If the staffers are recruited temporarily on the contract basis by the local bodies themselves, there will be a huge possibility of irregularity and nepotism in the selecting process. Therefore, the current vacancy by the Commission is justifiable,” he said.
In a different context, Pokharel, who is also a Secretariat member of Nepal Communist Party (NCP), said that he was firm to his instance that party chair with executive rights should head the government.
He further said that the coming convention of the ruling NCP would resolve the question of party structure and ideology.
The party would discuss the Multi-Party Democracy, Democracy of the 21st Century and Maoism and reach a conclusion in terms of adopting an ideology by the party, he said. On the Media Council Bill, he said that it was not introduced to control media houses and news outlets but to regulate them.
“Controlling the media in democracy is beyond imagination. Besides, we are those who had fought for democracy. If there are some questions over the Bill, we are open to discuss them in the parliament,” he stated.
