Parliamentary hearings committee rejects two ambassadorial nominees

Kathmandu / Oct. 14: In what could be an unprecedented development, the Parliamentary Hearings Committee (PHC) on Wednesday rejected the government’s nominations of ambassadors to Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, marking a rare instance of a parliamentary panel turning down nominees forwarded by the government. The decision comes even though an overwhelming majority of the committee members are lawmakers from the ruling party.

The committee rejected the nominations of Giri Bahadur Sunar for Saudi Arabia and Chuda Mani Kharel for Malaysia after raising questions about their backgrounds and conduct during their respective confirmation hearings.

According to Rastriya Swantantra Party (RSP) lawmaker Deepak Bohara, who is also a member of the PHC, the committee approved 10 of the 13 ambassadorial nominees, while deferring its decision on Jigyan Kumar Thapa, who has been proposed as Nepal’s ambassador to Japan.

The committee on Wednesday endorsed the nominees for India, China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Israel, Oman, South Korea, Spain and Sri Lanka.

Those approved are Dr Nischal Nath Pandey for India, Kalyan Raj Sharma for China, Chiran Jung Thapa for the United States, Gaurav Shumsher Rana for the United Kingdom, Saru Joshi for Germany, Suresh Kumar Karn for Israel, Padmakshi Rana for Oman, Sangam Shrestha for South Korea, Prapti Sherchan for Spain and Dr Manchala Jha for Sri Lanka.

During Sunar’s hearing, committee members raised questions about his past and his reported deportation from Germany, among other issues. Committee Chairperson Bodh Narayan Shrestha said the decision to reject his nomination was taken after discussions on various concerns relating to him.

Similarly, Kharel’s nomination was rejected after questions were raised about alleged conflict of interest, financial transactions and allegations that he had taken money by promising to arrange grants for local governments.

The committee has kept Thapa’s nomination for Japan on hold after questions emerged about his permanent residency (PR) status and potential conflict of interest.

Although Thapa said he had already renounced his PR status, the committee had not received the necessary documents, according to Chairperson Shrestha. The committee decided to wait for the documents before making a final decision.

RSP lawmaker Kabindra Burlakoti argued that Thapa’s nomination should remain on hold until the required documents were received. Nepali Communist Party (NCP) lawmaker Barshaman Pun, however, argued that his nomination should be rejected.

After hearing both sides, Shrestha adjourned the meeting, saying the committee would decide on Thapa’s nomination after the Dashain festival.