Secretaries appeal to union leaders
KATHMANDU, May 24: The Supreme Court (SC) will deliver its verdict on June 11 in the case challenging appointments made to various constitutional commissions during former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's previous term.
PM Oli had appointed 52 individuals to different constitutional bodies during that period. The court is currently reviewing the case. If it cancels the appointments, many positions in the constitutional commissions will fall vacant at once.
Meanwhile, the positions of Chief Election Commissioner and one Election Commissioner remain vacant. The National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission also lacks one constitutional member. The post of Chief Election Commissioner has remained unfilled since Dinesh Thapaliya retired on April 19. Another commissioner position has remained vacant for two years following the retirement of Commissioner Ishwari Paudel.
Secretaries nearing retirement are actively seeking appointments to one of the 52 positions in various constitutional commissions, hoping the Supreme Court will invalidate earlier appointments. If the draft of the Federal Civil Service Act includes a two-year cooling-off period, these incumbent secretaries will lose their chance for immediate appointment. To prevent this, they are pressuring lawmakers and officials through various channels to exclude the cooling-off period from the draft. They have also enlisted leaders of employee unions to lobby on their behalf.
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The law sets the age limit for constitutional appointments at 65. If the government enforces a two-year cooling-off period, retired secretaries appointed to constitutional commissions will not serve full terms, as they would reach retirement age within two or three years.
The State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives has already approved a draft of the Federal Civil Service Act that proposes raising the civil servant retirement age from 58 to 60. If the government implements both the new age limit and the cooling-off period, retired secretaries and joint secretaries will already be 62 by the time they become eligible, further reducing their potential tenure.
If they receive appointments to constitutional commissions at the age of 62, they cannot serve the full term because the current age limit is 65.
However, secretaries who complete their five-year tenure (or four years, as proposed in the Federal Civil Service Act) and retire before turning 58 do not fall under the cooling-off period rule. These secretaries favor including the cooling-off period.
Despite this, they have not publicly voiced their support. Since Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal is actively pushing to remove the cooling-off period, they have chosen to remain silent.
As they near retirement, secretaries and joint secretaries often build close ties with the prime minister, ministers, and political leaders. Hoping to secure appointments after retirement, they assist these leaders with various tasks to strengthen their relationships. Before leaving office, they even drafted procedures that paved the way for future appointments.
However, if the law imposes a two-year cooling-off period after compulsory retirement, these ties weaken, and the ministers they once relied on may no longer be in office. As a result, obtaining appointments becomes more difficult. Aware of this, the secretaries are pushing hard to eliminate the cooling-off period.
Physical Infrastructure and Transport Secretary Keshav Sharma, Youth and Sports Secretary Hari Lamsal, Prime Minister's Office Secretary Phanindra Gautam, and Vice President's Office Secretary Loknath Paudel are all nearing the mandatory retirement age of 58 and will retire within a few months. Labour, Employment and Social Security Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar, who has just one year of service left, has also joined the campaign to oppose the cooling-off period.
Secretaries rally employee union leaders for support
Several secretaries actively sought help from leaders of employee unions affiliated with political parties to remove the cooling-off period provision from the draft Federal Civil Service Act. Sources report that the secretaries urged leaders of the Nepal Civil Service Employees' Union (aligned with Nepali Congress) and the Nepal Civil Service Employees' Organization (aligned with CPN-UML) to back their lobbying against the cooling-off period during recent meetings.
On Thursday, officials from the Nepal Civil Service Employees' Union met with Uday Sapkota, Secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs. A day earlier, they met with Rabi Lal Pantha, Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration. Both Sapkota and Pantha expressed dissatisfaction with applying the cooling-off period only to civil servants.
A few days earlier, officials of the Nepal Civil Service Employees' Organization met several secretaries, where the secretaries also voiced their opposition to the cooling-off period.
