Mainali recommended PSC Chair

Kathmandu, Feb 26 : Former secretary Umesh Mainali has been recommended as the new Chairman of Public Service Commission (PSC).

A meeting of Constitutional Council (CC) on Thursday recommended Mainali as the PSC Chair, despite objection from the main opposition UCPN (Maoist).  The UCPN (Maoist) had been lobbying for the reappointment of Kayo Devi Yami as the PSC Chair. After the tenure of Kayo Devi, who was appointed as the PSC Chair by the UCPN (Maoist)-led government in 2009, ended early this month, the post had been lying vacant.

Kayo Devi is an elder sister of Hisila Yami, a UCPN (Maoist) leader and wife of the party Vice Chair Baburam Bhattarai. Earlier, two meetings of the CC had ended inconclusively as the UCPN (Maoist) Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal insisted on Kayo Devi’s second term. In its third meeting, the CC decided to recommend Mainali’s name despite objection from the UCPN (Maoist). The ruling NC and the UML have backed Mainali’s recommendation.

Mainali, who will be formally appointed as the PSC Chair within a week, has headed several ministries in the past, including Ministry of Home Affairs. The CC meeting also recommended Brinda Hada, Dr Govinda Kusum, Shree Purush Dhakal, Ashok Kumar Jha, Brahma Dev Raya and Krishna Chandra Jha as members of the constitutional body.

However, the CC has not recommended names for vacant posts of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and the Elections Commission (EC). According to the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly Subash Chandra Nembang, the vacant posts for the CIAA will also be fulfilled by this week.