Kathmandu
Friday, August 29, 2025
Old guard holds sway as political renewal remains elusive
KATHMANDU: How many times can one person circle back into the corridors of power—once, twice, or perhaps thrice? For most, the door of government appointment creaks open only rarely. But Yuba Raj Khatiwada has turned it into a revolving door. In just two and a half decades, he has managed to secure no fewer than seven coveted positions, each more rewarding than the last. Now comfortably seated as Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s economic and development advisor, Khatiwada stands not merely as an exception, but as a symbol of how some figures never quite leave the system—they only change chairs.
Like Khatiwada, the list of people who have received repeated government appointments is long. Why are the same people repeatedly appointed to important government bodies? Is it because of their excellent work performance or because no other competent person can be found? When Nepal News analyzed the list of 15 people who have been appointed more than three times, the performance of most of them was found to be poor. The performance of most of those who receive repeated appointments to a position of gain has not been able to rise above average. Despite being controversial and unsuccessful in their work performance, some individuals have received more than three appointments.
Among those who receive repeated appointments based on the recommendation of political parties, there are more people affiliated with the two major parties, the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) or commonly known as CPN-UML. Some individuals affiliated with the Maoists have also received appointments to positions of gain. The list of people who have received more than three appointments includes Chiranjibi Nepal, Shankar Prasad Sharma, Suresh Chandra Chalise, Govinda Pokharel, Baburam Kunwar, Tirtha Raj Khaniya, and Biswo Nath Poudel from the Congress, while from the UML, Khatiwada, Bishnu Prasad Rimal, Upendra Koirala, Ganga Prasad Upreti, Madhav Poudel, Mahendra Bishta, and Laxman Humagain’s names come forward. Sunil Babu Shrestha of the Maoists has also received more than three appointments.
Yuba Raj Khatiwada’s journey of government appointments, which began as a member of the National Planning Commission in 2002, has extended to being the vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission twice, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Ambassador to America, special economic advisor to the Prime Minister, and finally economic and development advisor to the Prime Minister. He is currently appointed as the economic and development advisor to the Prime Minister with ministerial-level facilities. Even though he is not actively involved in UML politics, he is among the “lucky ones” who were nominated as a member of the National Assembly from the party’s quota and became the finance minister twice. When he received these responsibilities, he did not show any specific abilities or make an excellent “record”.
Khatiwada was considered an expert in monetary matters, but in practice, he became unsuccessful and criticized.
As Governor, Khatiwada put an unexpected and sudden “brake” on the real estate sector, which created problems in the banking sector. His actions led to irregular loan collection by banks and financial institutions. While Khatiwada was the governor, the amount of bad loans increased, and the capital fund became negative. Similarly, when the credit cycle was stopped, financial institutions fell into crisis.
Khatiwada was considered an expert in monetary matters, but in practice, he became unsuccessful and criticized. While he was still the governor, he was accused of being an accomplice in the Capital Merchant Banking case. When the government recommended him as the Ambassador to America, in the parliamentary hearing of November 12, 2020, Member of Parliament (MP) Rajendra Prasad Shrestha said, “You acted as an accomplice by not taking action against the individuals who should have been prosecuted in the banking offense case at that time.” Another MP, Bhimsen Das Pradhan, also commented similarly on Khatiwada, saying, “The tendency to stay in office until you reach the crematorium has hindered the country’s development.”
However, Khatiwada does not pay much attention to the comments made about him. He said, “Let’s not talk about my personal matters, it has no meaning.”
Chiranjibi Nepal from Congress has also been seen accepting appointments, whether big or small, whenever he gets them. He is probably the only person in Nepal to have been an advisor to a minister, prime minister, and president. He has set a “record” by being appointed as an economic advisor to the Ministry of Finance, chairman of the Securities Board of Nepal, economic advisor to the then Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala, chief Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Finance, economic advisor to the then Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, and economic advisor to President Ramchandra Paudel.
When he was the governor, he was accused of being easily “convinced” by banks and turning a blind eye to the mistakes made by them. He excessively favored a limited number of banks, which weakened the supervisory capacity of the Nepal Rastra Bank. When he was appointed as the governor, he let the banks do as they pleased regarding service fees. The then Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat, who was dissatisfied with his weak performance, told his close circles, “He can run as governor as long as I am the finance minister. After I leave, he won’t be able to run and will leave midway.”
Just as Mahat had claimed, Nepal did not have to resign midway, but he had to leave the post of economic advisor to the President on May 12, 2024, for not being able to maintain his professional dignity. The President, who is in a “ceremonial” role, can consult about the government’s decisions, but cannot openly oppose them. Nepal, who was the President’s advisor, opposed the government’s decision to put Nepal’s ‘pointed map’ on the new hundred-rupee note. He had to lose his position after calling the government’s decision a whim, imprudent, and against international norms.
Upendra Koirala is another of the “lucky ones” who get attractive appointments from the UML quota. His series of government appointments began in 1994, when he was named General Manager of the then–Nepal Food Corporation, which later merged with the National Trading Limited to form today’s Food Management and Trading Company Limited (FMTCL). Koirala has held several prominent positions, including Executive Chairman of Nepal Oil Corporation, Vice-Chairman of the then Higher Secondary Education Board (now the National Examination Board), Vice-Chancellor of Mid-West University, and Member of the Board of Directors of Rastriya Banijya Bank.
Tirtha Khaniya is another person from the Nepali Congress who has been repeatedly involved in controversies after receiving government appointments.
While working at Nepal Oil Corporation, he could not complete the 6-month probationary period and had to resign as he was unable to do the fuel storage work. He also could not complete his term as the vice-chairman of the Higher Secondary Education Board. He resigned after the issue of printing fewer answer sheets than required for the operation of grade 11 and 12 examinations and sending them to subordinate centers reached the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. While being the vice-chancellor of Mid-West University, Koirala did the controversial work of granting affiliation for engineering education to Nepal Engineering College. The university had granted affiliation to a private college even without a postgraduate curriculum and program under the Faculty of Engineering. During his term, in addition to the affiliation scandal, the issue of appointing teachers and employees by violating the law also reached the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. When he tried to remove the university’s registrar, Mahendra Kumar Malla, from his post, professors and students protested for about six months.
Tirtha Khaniya is another person from the Nepali Congress who has been repeatedly involved in controversies after receiving government appointments. He became the vice-chairman of the then Higher Secondary Education Board, a member of the National Planning Commission, and the vice-chancellor of Tribhuvan University, and was controversial everywhere. When he was the vice-chairman, Khaniya appointed his wife, Sabitri, as a section officer and later promoted her to an under-secretary. At that time, the council was known as “Chital,” a name formed from the first Nepali letters of Chitwan, Tanahun, and Lamjung, as he recruited workers only from those three districts.
Khaniya’s appointment as the vice-chancellor of Tribhuvan University was highly controversial. He was also accused of plagiarism. The fact that he copied 53 lines from an article by Turkish linguist Ferit Kılıçkaya was made public. He was further embroiled in controversy after granting affiliation to Kathmandu Medical College, which had not completed its physical and academic infrastructure. He granted affiliation to the college at a time when the Medical Education Bill, which included a provision that no new medical colleges could be opened in the Kathmandu Valley for 10 years, was pending in the Parliament. After increasing pressure from all sides, the then chancellor of Tribhuvan University and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba warned that “the government’s reputation has been tarnished by the university’s decision,” and he had to cancel the affiliation decision.
During his term, Khaniya also took away the rights of the institutes under Tribhuvan University. He cut the right of the Institute of Medicine to determine the number of seats and fees for medical colleges and took it to the Tribhuvan University Senate and Executive Council. He was further criticized after he made it possible for a politically appointed council to make decisions on the number of seats and fees, which should be done by experts.
Ganga Prasad Upreti’s name also comes on the list of people who have received more than three government appointments.
Digambar Jha, who was appointed to the Nepal Oil Corporation and the Nepal Telecommunication Authority sometimes from the Communist quota and sometimes from the Nepali Congress quota, is also considered a “lucky” person on the list of people who receive government appointments. What is the source of his power? It is still a “mystery”. From August 27, 2007, to August 11, 2011, he was the general manager of the corporation and the chairman of the authority three times. Jha, who was first appointed to the authority on December 3, 2012, was reappointed by the Nepali Congress-led government in 2017. However, on July 4, 2018, the then Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) government dismissed him. Within two months of his dismissal, he was reinstated to the same post. The same CPN government that had dismissed him reappointed him on September 6, 2018. There was a big controversy within the CPN over Jha’s reappointment. He resigned from his post on December 26, 2018, after 42 central committee members of the party submitted a memorandum to the government with a warning that he should be removed.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority filed a case against Jha, the former chairman of the authority, and others in the Special Court on May 15, 2025, in the “Telecommunication Traffic Monitoring and Fraud Control System” (TERAMOCS) procurement process. In the TERAMOCS case, 18 people, including him, former minister Mohan Bahadur Basnet, the then chairman of the authority Purushottam Khanal, members Dhan Raj Gyawali and Tika Prasad Upreti, have been accused.
Ganga Prasad Upreti’s name also comes on the list of people who have received more than three government appointments. He has been the Chancellor of Nepal Academy once and Vice-Chancellor twice and is a lifelong member of the Academy. As a lifelong member, he receives a monthly allowance of Rs 60,000. He is accused of amending the procedure to his convenience at the end of his term and getting his name recommended for a lifelong membership by a committee he himself formed. He has also been accused of being more engaged in commissions and facilities than in academic debates and advocacy at the academy during his 12-year tenure as an official. However, Upreti feels proud of being an official three times. He proudly says that he and Lain Singh Bangdel are the only two people who have been officials at the academy three times, and says, “It is not strange to get a lifelong membership after being an official three times. It is also a tribute to the work I have done at the academy.”
Another person who gets repeated appointments to a position of gain is Bishnu Prasad Rimal, the Deputy General Secretary of the ruling CPN-UML. He is Prime Minister Oli’s “evergreen advisor.” Out of Oli’s four terms, Rimal has been appointed as the chief advisor three times, including the current one. Due to his controversial remarks, he is often criticized. About six years ago, while he was an advisor, he used a low-level language to attack his opponents. Aimed at the leaders of his own party who were criticizing the then Oli government, he wrote on the social media X (formerly Twitter). It is said that stray dogs do not move on their own, someone lets them loose and they cause trouble. Have these stray dogs moved on their own or has someone let them loose?”
Clause 21 of the “Ambassador Appointment Directive” issued by the government states that “a person currently serving as an ambassador in a country will not be reappointed for another term of continuity in the same country.”
In May 2023, a feud erupted after he described Dharan’s Mayor, Harka Sampang, as a “crazy type of mayor.” In response, Sampang mocked Rimal as a “Guinthe”—a term implying a short, Lilliput-like man who is also foolish. When the appointment of Hitendra Dev Shakya as the executive director of Nepal Electricity Authority was criticized by linking it to Oli, Rimal became even more aggressive. When the public criticized the government for occasional power outages, Rimal wrote on his social media wall on May 18, “This is a society that does not understand how electricity was restored after years of crippling power cuts, yet it deifies individuals as if they alone ‘brought the light.’ Meanwhile, the businessmen shaping this narrative on social media know the truth hidden behind this veil of glorification. Still, they spread a powerful illusion that misleads society. A clique that thrives by keeping people trapped under the dark shadow of false narratives, while serving their own interests instead of delivering real results, remains active.”
It is commented within the CPN-UML itself that the criticism-intolerant Rimal is more active in misusing the state mechanism with the support of Prime Minister Oli than in doing good work. Even though the Oli government got a comfortable two-thirds majority by forming an alliance with the Nepali Congress, it has not been able to do the expected work. He is getting caught up in one controversy after another. The advisory team plays a role in the success and failure of the Prime Minister. Rimal is more active in putting Oli into controversy than making him successful.
Another person who gets continuous attractive appointments from the Nepali Congress quota is Shankar Prasad Sharma. He has been appointed as the Ambassador to India twice. Having been the Ambassador to India from March 2022 to July 2024, he was reappointed as the ambassador to the same country on December 18, 2024, within six months. He was appointed as the Ambassador to America on August 3, 2009. In 2002, he was appointed as the Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission. Sharma’s second appointment was controversial. Clause 21 of the “Ambassador Appointment Directive” issued by the government states that “a person currently serving as an ambassador in a country will not be reappointed for another term of continuity in the same country.” In the parliamentary hearing, MPs criticized the violation of this provision. They raised questions as to why Sharma’s previous term was not satisfactory and why he was being reappointed.
Suresh Chandra Chalise, first appointed as Principal Personal Secretary to President Ram Chandra Paudel, was later elevated to Foreign Affairs Expert—both positions held during the same presidential tenure. He was appointed as Nepal’s Ambassador to the USA in 2008, and later as Ambassador to the UK in 2009. Sharma and Chalise exceeded their official terms as ambassadors, serving from 2009 to 2013, prompting the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to instruct the government to take action against them. At that time, Sharma was the Nepali Ambassador to America and Chalise was to the UK. A complaint was filed against them for staying longer than their term without prior approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and causing loss to the government.
Former President of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), Mahendra Bista, is also among those who get repeated government appointments from the UML quota.
In the letter from the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, it was mentioned on January 6, 2016, that it had been concluded that these two, along with eight other ambassadors, had taken Rs 5,590,000 and other facilities, and it had directed the Prime Minister’s and Council of Ministers’ Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to recover the amount.
The letter stated, “Regarding the loss caused to the Government of Nepal by ambassadors and officials working in Nepali embassies and missions who stayed longer than their specified term without the approval of the authorized officer and body and took salary, allowance, and facilities irregularly, a suitable decision should be made according to the prevailing law to recover the amount from the officials as per the rule.” Ironically, instead of facing action, Sharma and Chalise got further opportunities for appointments. Sharma has been appointed as the Ambassador to India twice. Chalise became the foreign advisor to the Prime Minister and the chief private secretary to the President.
In Congress, Baburam Kunwar is also a person who gets attractive government appointments. Kunwar has been appointed as the attorney general, the chief of Gandaki Province, and the legal advisor to President Ramchandra Paudel.
Even though their work performance is not particularly excellent, there are others who get more than three appointments. One of them is Sunil Babu Shrestha. From the Maoist Centre quota, he was appointed as a member of the National Planning Commission twice and as the vice-chancellor of Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST). He has been successful in getting important responsibilities due to his access to the Maoist leadership.
Similarly, Laxman Humagain of the UML is a person who keeps getting appointments despite his controversial performance. He was made “responsibility-less” for nine months in 2015 when he was the general manager of Nepal Television (NTV), and he has been the chairman of the Advertising Board twice. When he was the general manager of NTV, he was pulled to the Ministry of Communication by the then government on the charge of allowing a company that had submitted a fake bank guarantee to operate a television program. However, he was acquitted after an investigation. After the government issued the Advertisement Regulation Act-2019, Humagain became the first chairman of the board and was appointed as the chairman for the second term on May 27. The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) had protested, saying that the board had not performed its duties and roles properly during Humagain’s first term.
Former President of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), Mahendra Bista, is also among those who get repeated government appointments from the UML quota. He became the chairman of the Minimum Remuneration Fixation Committee in 2010, and about six months after leaving the FNJ, he was appointed as the executive chairman of Nepal Television on May 16, 2018. However, he could not complete his four-year term. After the then Prime Minister KP Sharma was removed from office by a Supreme Court order and Sher Bahadur Deuba became the Prime Minister, he resigned from the post of executive chairman on August 6, 2021. After the government merged Nepal Television and Radio Nepal to establish Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) Nepal, Bista got the opportunity for a government appointment for the third time. On December 16, 2024, he was appointed as the chairman of PSB.
Govinda Pokharel of Nepali Congress is also on the list of people who get attractive government appointments in a short period of time. He has been the executive director of the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre and became the vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission on May 8, 2014. While he was the vice-chairman, the then Prime Minister Sushil Koirala gave him the responsibility of the chief executive officer of the Nepal Reconstruction Authority. He was appointed as the chief executive officer of the authority twice. He is currently an academic member of the Management Council of NAST.
Analyst Bishnu Sapkota says that it is natural for a person trusted by the party to get an opportunity based on party affiliation in a parliamentary system.
Governor Biswo Poudel, who is comparatively less involved in controversy, is another person from the Nepali Congress who gets excessive opportunities. He has received various appointments to positions of gain in a short period of time. After a long struggle, he was appointed as the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank from the Congress quota on May 20. Before this, he had held the posts of vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission and economic advisor to the Ministry of Finance.
Inappropriate alignment of interests
It’s not that there aren’t qualified people with expertise in various fields within political parties, but only a limited number of individuals who fulfill the visible/invisible interests of political parties and their leaders get repeated appointments. Former chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, Suryanath Upadhyay, says that the same person gets repeated appointments to a position of gain due to an “inappropriate” alignment of interests between the appointers and the appointees. “A party needs money to run, a party cannot run without money. Now, whoever can benefit the party and the ‘head’ of the party gets the opportunity,” he says.
The appointment to a position of gain is also linked to financial transactions. This became a topic of discussion in 2018 when the then CPN government had to reverse its own decision to dismiss Digambar Jha. The comment made by Swarnim Wagle, a member of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) who also served as the vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission, in the context of the latest appointment of the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank is also meaningful. He had said to journalists in Nawalpur on May 11, “It is not that the two parties have not agreed on who to appoint as the governor, but rather that the brokers have not agreed.”
According to the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, the government has to appoint a new governor a month before the end of the term of the current governor. Wagle’s reaction came in the context that even after a month had passed since the post became vacant, a governor had not been appointed.
Analyst Bishnu Sapkota says that it is natural for a person trusted by the party to get an opportunity based on party affiliation in a parliamentary system. But he says that it is wrong to give repeated appointments to the same person, “A person who goes to the homes and party offices of leaders asking for an appointment cannot fulfill his professional duties. He works in the interest of the person who appoints him.”
Power loop:
Yubaraj Khatiwada
Chiranjivi Nepal
Upendra Koirala
Digambar Jha
Shankar Prasad Sharma
Tirtha Raj Khaniya
Govinda Pokharel
Suresh Chandra Chalise
Bishnu Prasad Rimal
Ganga Prasad Upreti
Baburam Kunwar
Sunil Babu Shrestha
Biswo Nath Poudel
Laxman Humagain
Mahendra Bista
