The stalled appointment process for a new chief executive officer (CEO) at the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has finally resumed.

The NTB’s CEO selection sub-committee on Tuesday invited shortlisted applicants to appear for a presentation on December 13. Following the presentation, the committee has scheduled an interview of the candidates for December 14.

The long-running appointment process goes back to November 2011 when the NTB board had shortlisted 12 applicants.

Among them, former NTB senior director Subash Nirola has been charge-sheeted in a corruption case.

Government officials said that if things go as planned, the NTB would get a new chief by December 20.

“As the NTB has been headless since a long time, we have decided to conclude the process as soon as possible,” said Ghanshyam Upadhyay, spokesperson of the Tourism Ministry and one of the members of the three-member CEO selection sub-committee.

Under the NTB Act and Regulation, a three-member sub-committee has to be formed to appoint the CEO.

Upadhyay said that the sub-committee would recommend three candidates from the shortlist to the NTB board after the interview. The board will then select one from among them for the top post.

The stalled appointment process had got moving again last September after the Patan Appellate Court gave the go-ahead in response to a writ petition.

On June 10, the NTB had invited fresh applications for the position of CEO while keeping the earlier process alive. Soon after the shortlist was issued, four of those on it—Narayan Krishna Pradhan, Raghu Bista, Gyanendra Ratna Tuladhar and Bishnu Prasad GC—filed a writ at the court against the NTB board and the Tourism Ministry demanding that the new process be annulled.

The court subsequently directed the NTB and the ministry to begin the CEO appointment process as per NTB Act 1997.

The NTB board had invited new applications explaining that it wanted to give an opportunity to fresh candidates too as there were a number of hopefuls in the market. But the old applicants argued that inviting fresh applications was not legal as the process had reached its final stages.

Public enterprises and the board need to include a member of the Public Service Commission to recruit new people to make the process fair and transparent, and the ministry said that the commission had already given them the okay to take the process ahead.

The NTB has been stumbling along without a head since October 31, 2011 when the then CEO Prachanda Man Shrestha’s tenure expired. Due to a dispute among private sector representatives, the NTB has suffered several setbacks in its efforts to appoint a new boss.

According to the NTB Act, a prospective CEO should have 10 years’ experience in the tourism sector and at least a Master’s degree.

Due to political manoeuvring and rampant irregularities, the NTB, formed under an exemplary public-private-partnership model, has not been functioning as per its aims.