Kathmandu. Acting Governor Neelam Dhungana Timsin has been seen as an obstacle in the appointment of the governor. He has not accepted the resignations of Prakash Kumar Shrestha and Gunakar Bhatta, who had resigned from the post of executive director.
Timsina has not only become an obstacle in the appointment of governors but also a force to shake the government. Top leaders have started saying that the possibility of changing the power equation while appointing the governor has come because of him.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has agreed with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba to make Gunakar Bhatta the governor. Therefore, sources say that the political leadership believes that he is now the main obstacle to the appointment of the governor.
The government is now in a mood to think in a new way after Timsina’s decision to appoint the governor. Therefore, Prime Minister Oli and NC President Deuba are under pressure. The government fears that Dhungana will be able to do anything to become the governor. Several middlemen groups have been supporting Timsina. Therefore, on the one hand, the commitment of the middleman group to herself, on the other hand, she has become a distraction in the appointment of the governor due to the claim that history can be made by becoming the first woman governor.
The appointment of the governor has now been delayed after he went to the line of annoying the middlemen and irritating the UML rather than becoming the governor by annoying the UML. He is a natural contender for governor’ post. The Governor’s Recommendation Committee constituted for the appointment of governors will have to select the names of three people for the post of governor. Of these, one of the deputy governors will be mandatory. It’s as if timsina will remain in it.
That’s why Timsina is trying to weaken or block other governorial aspirants. However, there is no provision for the executive director to resign for the governor. However, Oli and Deuba are confused as there is a lot of power for him.
Maha Prasad Adhikari had retired as governor on April 23. Timsina, who was then the senior deputy governor, was made the acting governor by the Finance Ministry. Subsequent developments have caused confusion in the appointment of the governor.
The government had formed the governor’s recommendation committee on March 11. Former governor Bijaya Nath Bhattarai and economist Bishwa Poudel were members of the recommendation committee headed by Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel. However, Bhattarai resigned as a member of the committee after the meeting was not held for a month to recommend the governor. Since then, Maha Prasad Adhikari has been made a member of the government.
According to sources, both Oli and Deuba are not ready for the governor’s appointment process. As a result, there was no meeting of the recommendation committee. Although the recommendation committee had selected three names for the appointment of the governor, the government itself started selecting the names.
It has been a month since the central bank became leaderless due to delay in the process of appointing governors for political interests. On the one hand, the government has acted against the policy of appointing a new governor a month before the governor’s vacancy, and on the other hand, it has left the central bank leaderless for a month.
Experts say that this is a big attack on the autonomy of the Rastra Bank. Former governors and former executive directors have expressed concern that the government has taken over the Rastra Bank and has become a prisoner of indecision.
However, the government has shown no interest or concern for the appointment of the governor. Earlier, the government, which had selected the leadership at the behest of middlemen in the Securities Board and Insurance Authority, has also sought the help of middlemen in the appointment of governors. As a result, experts say, the Rastra Bank is now without a governor.
