Nepali Congress (NC) leader Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat is set to become the Finance Minister at a time when the country is facing an acute financial crisis.
NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba has reached a deal with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ on making Dr Mahat as the Finance Minister.
The Finance Ministry is under Prime Minister Prachanda after former coalition partner CPN (UML) pulled out of the government.
Former Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel of UML resigned from the post after the UML withdrew its support to the government.
There are now 16 ministries under Prime Minister Prachanda. Prachanda is preparing to take one of the ministries for the CPN (Maoist Center) and distribute remaining 15 ministries to the coalition parties.
Prachanda has already decided to give the Finance Ministry to the Congress, the largest party in the parliament.
On March 24, in a meeting with Dr Shekhar Koirala, Deuba had told him that he was preparing to pick Dr Mahat as the Finance Minister.
“We had gone to Dhumbarai to hold talks on the ministers. The President said he had given words to Prakash Sharan Mahat on Finance Ministry. Let’s talk about other ministries besides this,” another leader who accompanied Koirala told Nepalkhabar.
Baluwatar sources have also confirmed that Deuba is making preparations to pick Dr Mahat as the Finance Minister.
On the other hand, Congress Vice President Purna Bahadur Khadka also aspires to join the government as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, according to the leaders close to him. However, Khadka has not opened his mouth about it.
Baluwatar sources say that Khadka will participate in the government by leading the Congress as Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister. A final agreement has been made between Prachanda and Deuba that Congress will get seven ministries and one state minister. According to Baluwatar sources, it is certain that Khadka will lead the government from the Congress.
There is a discussion among the Congress leaders that they are trying to stop each other from becoming the Finance Minister. However, President Deuba has prioritized Speaker Dr Mahat over Khadka, who is ranked second.
Why Mahat is the priority of President Deuba?
A leader of the Congress said in response, "Now the economy is in a dire straits. It needs someone who can fix it. In other words, we had to send a person who had read and understood economics. If the economy does not improve, it will tarnish the image of the party,” said the leader, “That is why he gave priority to spokesperson Mahat.”
Dhumbarahi says that if Mahat, who is known as a leader with good foreign relations, is made the finance minister, it will be easier to get foreign grants and assistance.
“There is a challenge to improve the economy. At this time, we need a person who has good foreign relations to bring foreign grants and assistance,'' he says, 'The leader in the Congress who has such relations now is Dr Mahat.
Spokesperson Mahat has held the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2073. When he was in charge of foreign affairs, relations between Nepal and India sourced when the latter imposed a blockade due to the Tarai-Madhesh movement.
At that time, he visited India three times to improve the relationship which could not be improved during the previous government.
After Mahat's visit, the strained relationship was mended. Besides opening the embargo and resuming the supply system, then Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also visited Nepal.
During his tenure, the project was started in Nepal with the help of India. When Mahat was the foreign minister, an agreement was also signed to implement the 'Belt and Road Initiative' (BRI) proposed by the Chinese government in a way that would be favorable to the interests of Nepal.
Mahat was the Minister of Energy from 2010 to 2011 during which he initiated the national pride Upper Tamakoshi project with homegrown capital.
A decision was taken to build the Nepal-India international transmission line during Mahat's tenure. The construction of Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 KV transmission line helped Nepal to end its load shedding. Mahat became the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs for the first time when Deuba was deposed by the then King Gyanendra Shah.
Mahat, who served as the member secretary of the Maoist Problem Resolution Committee formed by the government in 1999 when the Maoist armed rebellion was at its peak, was appointed as an adviser by the then Prime Minister Deuba from September 2001 to May 2002.
He also became a member of the National Planning Commission from April to October 2002.
Mahat holds a PhD in economics from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, USA and a master's degree in policy economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the same state.
A post graduate in economics from Tribhuvan University, Mahat has presented policy and research papers at various national and international forums and has published various articles on economic development, peace process, foreign affairs in national and international journals.
