Political appointments need not be graduates to be appointed ambassadors

The government has amended the Directives for Ambassadorial Appointment in such a way that from now onwards the government can appoint even those who are not graduates as the country’s ambassador to a foreign country.

Previously, there was a provision that any candidate being appointed as ambassador had to have completed at least undergraduate degree and should be familiar with the language of the country the candidate is being appointed to. However, towards the end of Baisakh when the government was about to appoint envoys to 11 countries the Council of Ministers amended the directives based on which any candidate who has previously served as minister does not need to have an undergraduate degree. This basically means that if the concerned candidate is a political appointment then their educational qualification does not matter.

According to a source, the government amended the directives so as to be able to appoint its well-wishers as ambassadors to various countries. There are many examples where Nepal has not been able to establish bilateral diplomatic relations due to the appointment of ineligible candidates as ambassadors. Now with this change in the guidelines there is a danger of Nepal losing out even more on the diplomatic front.

There are voices being raised now seeking another amendment to the previous one so that only those who have completed at least their undergraduate studies can be appointed as ambassadors.

Previously, the Directives for Ambassadorial Appointment was endorsed on the initiative of then Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali. The directives had a provision that any political appointment needed to have an undergraduate degree and should be familiar with the language of the country the candidate is being appointed to.

The government is being criticised from various quarters for amending the directives which will allow the government to appoint any political candidate as ambassador despite not being a graduate but the provision for other candidates remains the same.