Bhattarai defends govt over joint secretary removal, slams political overreaction

KATHMANDU: CPN-UML Secretary and Member of Parliament Yogesh Bhattarai has defended the government’s recent decision to remove a Joint Secretary, criticizing the political backlash as unnecessary and exaggerated.

Speaking during Tuesday’s session of the House of Representatives while debating the government’s policy and program for the upcoming fiscal year, Bhattarai said the removal of bureaucrats falls under the natural administrative rights of the government.

“Managing civil servants under the government’s jurisdiction is a normal and rightful authority of the government,” Bhattarai said. “Yet, there’s been an unnecessary uproar and political blame over the recent removal of a Joint Secretary.”

Bhattarai drew comparisons with past decisions made by previous governments, particularly under Maoist Centre Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s leadership.

He recalled that the then government had removed the Chief Secretary and the Chief of Army Staff, as well as created a new position — the National Security Advisor — which did not exist previously.

Addressing the criticism being leveled at the current government, Bhattarai questioned, “Why does it feel like a bullet to the heart now when a Joint Secretary is removed, but it was acceptable back then to remove the Army Chief and Chief Secretary?”

He went on to say, “Let me remind Comrade Prachanda — you dismissed the Chief Secretary during your last tenure, and you even created a post that didn’t exist — the National Security Advisor. Then you appointed another Chief Secretary. So why such a big fuss now when one Joint Secretary has been removed by KP Oli’s government?”

Bhattarai urged political actors not to sensationalize administrative decisions made to address misalignments between the government and civil servants. “This should not be viewed as abnormal. Sometimes, restructuring is necessary when coordination is lacking,” he concluded.