The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent another letter on Monday to the ambassador, who had been recalled earlier, asking him to come to the ministry and resume his duties.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
The government has indicated, in a roundabout way, that it will defy the Supreme Court's interim order to stay the implementation of the ambassador's decision.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent another letter to the ambassadors who were previously recalled on Monday, asking them to come to the ministry to work.
Those who became ambassadors through political appointments have no role in the ministry. However, the government, which is forced to comply with the court order, has called the ambassadors to the ministry instead of allowing them to continue working in their current positions. Ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Chhetri said that 11 ambassadors have been called to work in the ministry. The ministry's administration division wrote to the concerned ambassadors and embassies on Monday, asking them to appear from 20 Kartik.
According to the government's new decision, they have been called to work in the ministry without being told about their recall. 'It is like being recalled in a way, since they cannot work in the country where they were assigned,' said a ministry source. The ambassadors recalled to work in the ministry are Krishna Prasad Oli (China), Shail Rupakheti (Germany), Dhan Prasad Pandit (Israel), Netra Prasad Timilsina (Malaysia), Ramesh Chandra Poudel (Qatar), Jungab Chauhan (Russia), Naresh Bikram Dhakal (Saudi Arabia), Sunil Nepal (Spain), Chandra Kumar Ghimire (UK), Lokdarshan Regmi (USA) and Durga Bahadur Subedi (Japan).
The Sushila Karki-led government had decided to recall the ambassadors on 30 Ashoja. The ambassadors had been appointed under the political quota in the previous KP Sharma Oli government. Hearing a writ petition against the decision to recall the ambassadors, a bench of Supreme Court Justices Saranga Subedi and Shrikant Poudel had issued an interim order on Sunday not to recall them until the case is resolved.
The government had not set any criteria while recalling the ambassadors. While 11 people appointed through political quotas were recalled, the government did not use 6 people appointed through quotas. Similarly, ambassadors appointed through the Foreign Service were also left as is. The issue of recalling ambassadors by a government formed with the main objective of holding elections was criticized. The Supreme Court has also drawn attention to the fact that the main responsibility of the government is elections.
There are 34 Nepali ambassadors in various countries, including for 3 permanent missions to the United Nations. According to the Ambassador Appointment Guidelines, there is a practice of appointing 50 percent of ambassadors from the Foreign Service and 50 percent from the Political Service. Accordingly, ambassadors were appointed from the political quota in 17 places. The ambassadors appointed for four years were recalled within a year.
