by Prakash Dubey

Most officials are former army officers who backed King Gyanendra's putsch, including 12 ambassadors. The decision was expected but there are other priorities, says political analyst.

Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – Nepal's transitional government is pursuing the process of democratisation by removing more than a hundred diplomats and officials appointed by King  Gyanendra. The decision was made last night.

Most of those axed were former army officers who backed the royal putsch in February 2005, when the king took direct control of the government. They include 12 ambassadors (to India, China, Germany, France, Russia, Japan, Great Britain, Qatar, Myanmar, Vietnam, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) as well as officials in government and semi-governmental agencies.

"This decision was not unexpected," political analyst Sushil Sashank told AsiaNews. "These are political appointments made in accordance to the needs of whoever is power. The king put in his cronies; now politicians are placing their backers in the same posts. Everyone would like to be in the cabinet but that is not possible," he said. "Still an ambassadorship or chairing a public agency comes with perks. However, coming so quickly [after the king's surrender], the process smacks of political vendetta. The government could have waited before removing them and pursued other priorities like the economy whose poor state is so much of a burden for the population. It is ridiculous that new prime minister, Koirala, is unable to bring more people into his cabinet. About a dozen ministries, some vital for the poor, have no one in charge. Things are ambiguous; even talks with the Maoist rebels seem to be hanging on a thread."

"Ministers fear the Maoists' intransigence," a pro-democracy Nepali government official told

AsiaNews. "There is so much confusion. I doubt that talks with the rebels will lead to any positive results."

In his opinion, Koirala failed to enlarge his cabinet to 14 members as scheduled in yesterday's agenda because of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN), which has failed so far to provide its list of potential cabinet members.

"CPN  leaders are fighting among themselves to pick the ministers but are doing so under the limelight so people see. They must be careful because public opinion, which is not pro-democracy and anti-king, might as easily change."

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