The delay in forming a new government has taken a toll in governance and day to day affairs with the Cabinet led by Sher Bahadur Deuba having become “caretaker” after the House of Representatives election.

As the government becomes “lame duck”, day-to-day state affairs and development works have been hit hard. Experts have suggested ending this “unstable” situation soon.

In an instance of held-up tasks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not deputed one joint-secretary and one under-secretary to Nepal’s Permanent Mission to Geneva after the country’s election as a member of the UN Human Rights Council.

PM Deuba has little time to look after the Home Ministry as it needs to take several important decisions.

A number of ministries have become rudderless after CPN (Maoist Centre) ministers were stripped of their responsibilities ahead of elections to the federal and provincial parliaments.

Several proposals are pending at the PMO related to economy, development works, diplomacy, security, bilateral talks and meetings with several nations, among others, even though very few concern matters having lasting implications.

These proposals have long been piling at the Prime Minister’s Office due to the absence of ministers and the government’s caretaker status.

Administrative expert Kashi Raj Dahal said the Cabinet should meet regularly so that the government can prepare policies and by-laws and implement various decisions, projects and programmes.

The executive is not like Parliament or the judiciary. It needs to work every day, should make appropriate and quick decisions and have acumen to execute decisions, he added.

A PMO secretary said bureaucrats were literally in trouble, under pressure both from the incumbent government and leaders from the parties expected to form the forthcoming government. The CPN-UML has publicly warned Chief Secretary Lok Darshan Regmi not to be part of any controversial decision to be made by the Deuba government.

Only one Cabinet meeting has taken place after the elections, the secretary said. Officials at the ministries without ministers are facing problems but those where ministers are in charge are in a dilemma too due to the fix in reaching decisions.

In this situation, the PMO secretary said, top bureaucrats are busy formulating by-laws to run provincial parliaments including the modalities of oath taking by new parliamentarians and other functionaries, formation of provincial cabinets and their work division, among others.

Chief Secretary Regmi admits that the central administration has been affected by the absence of a powerful government. Regmi has told his close circle of the pressure mounting on him from both leaders in office and those expected to take charge soon.

Focus on appointments by outgoing ministers has put officials in a quandary. To

end the uncertainties, the parties mandated to form the government should sit together and resolve the row over the ordinance related to National Assembly election, said Dahal.