Prime Minister and CPN (UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli said the government had changed the police chief to ensure its instructions were carried out, after Manoj Kumar Kesi was appointed Inspector General of Police (IGP) in place of Dan Bahadur Karki on Wednesday. Speaking to journalists at the CPN (UML) headquarters in Chyasal, Oli suggested the new IGP may have been selected because he would do as he was told.
Oli’s remarks on the appointment
Oli made the comments while responding to journalists at the party headquarters. He described the government’s decision to replace the IGP as an effort to get the work it ordered done. His remarks presented the appointment not simply as a change in police leadership, but as a move intended to secure compliance with the government’s directions.
The prime minister also suggested that Kesi may have been brought into the post because he would follow instructions. That was Oli’s characterization of the appointment; the information available about his remarks does not include a separate explanation from the government setting out its reasons for selecting Kesi.
Kesi replaces Karki as police chief
The government appointed Kesi as IGP on Wednesday, replacing Karki. The change places Kesi at the head of Nepal’s police leadership, while Oli’s comments have drawn attention to the relationship between the government and the country’s top police official.
Oli’s statement tied the leadership change to the government’s expectations of the new officeholder. He said the IGP had been changed so the government could have its orders carried out. The remarks did not, in the information reported, identify a particular instruction or task that the government expects Kesi to implement.
Political significance of Oli’s statement
The comments are notable because they came from Oli, who is both prime minister and chairman of the governing CPN (UML). His account of the appointment placed emphasis on the government’s ability to have its directives followed by the police leadership. The remarks also offered a pointed interpretation of why Kesi had been selected to replace Karki.
Oli spoke to reporters at the UML headquarters in Chyasal following the appointment. The available account of his comments focuses on his view that the government wanted a police chief who would carry out its instructions. It does not provide further details about the appointment process, the government’s formal reasoning, or any response from Kesi or Karki.
The change in IGP and Oli’s remarks have therefore become linked in public discussion of the appointment: Kesi took over from Karki on Wednesday, and the prime minister said the government had made the change to get its orders implemented. No additional explanation of the decision was included in the reported comments.
