Retired Army General Sharma Takes Helm at Foreign Ministry

President Ram Chandra Paudel on Friday, December 26, administered the oath of office and secrecy to newly appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs Balananda Sharma. The ceremony was held at the Office of the President in Sheetal Niwas, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu.

Sharma was appointed earlier in the day by Interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki. His induction expands the cabinet to 15 members. This marks the fifth cabinet expansion since Karki assumed office following the Gen Z-led protests.

A retired lieutenant general of the Nepal Army, Sharma coordinated the Secretariat of the Special Committee for the Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation of Maoist Combatants, a key part of the peace process to shift Maoists from bullets to ballets.

He also served nearly four years in international peacekeeping missions.

The oath-taking ceremony was attended by Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav, Prime Minister Karki, Speaker of the House Devaraj Ghimire, and Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut.
Senior government officials, heads of diplomatic missions, security chiefs and representatives of constitutional bodies were also present.

Karki, 73, became prime minister on September 12, following the ouster of KP Sharma Oli on September 9. Oli stepped down amid nationwide youth-led anti-corruption protests and public backlash against the ban on over two dozen social media platforms.

Earlier, on December 12, Shraddha Shrestha, Madhav Chaulagain, Rajendra Singh Bhandari and Kumar Ingnam were sworn in as ministers. They were assigned Women, Children and Senior Citizens; Forests and Environment; Labour, Employment and Social Security; and Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, respectively.

On September 15, former finance secretary Rameshore Khanal, Nepal Electricity Authority Managing Director Kulman Ghising and advocate Om Prakash Aryal joined the cabinet. They were appointed ministers for Finance; Physical Infrastructure and Transport; and Home Affairs. Ghising was also given responsibility for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, and Urban Development.

A week later, Anil Kumar Sinha was assigned Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation. Mahabir Pun took charge of Education, Science and Technology, Madan Prasad Pariyar of Agriculture and Livestock Development, and Jagdish Kharel of Communication and Information Technology.

On October 26, Dr Sudha Sharma Gautam was appointed Minister for Health and Population. Bablu Gupta was sworn in as Minister for Youth and Sports.