-Pushpa Raj Pradhan
Chief Editor
The People’s Review Weekly,
Kathmandu, Nepal

From day one of the introduction of this “Loktantra” we have been lauding that it doesn’t suit the soil of the nation. We have been continuously saying that the present system is the product of the 12-point Delhi agreement and it will not serve the nation, rather, it will serve the foreign interests and those foreigners’ puppets.

Now, this has come true. The nation’s economy has already collapsed. The reality is that the government has failed to meet the revenue target and is unable to meet the current expenditure. The national treasury is already in deficit by 221 billion rupees.

The government set capital expenditure record is very poor. The cash flow in the market is shrinking. The trade deficit has widened by 953 billion rupees.

The production sector has declined. As a result of the recession, the transaction of land has declined.

Financial institutions are losing the confidence of the depositors. The government debts have intensified. The inflation rate has inclined to 7.77 per cent. The share market is on the verge of collapse. The target for economic growth is hopeless. Already, the nation is facing an economic recession.

Globally too, due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, European countries are facing recession and it is surely going to affect the regional and domestic economy. As there is no other option to rescue the domestic economy, maybe, the tax burden on the taxpayers could be increased. This may cause further deterioration of economic activities.

Even those, who know ABC of economics, can say that expenditure should be dominated by income. If income is far less than the compulsory expenditure, one needs to borrow loans and if this process of taking loans will continue, the economy will collapse or say those who provide loans will stop considering that it is impossible to get back the investment. The present Loktantrik economics is dominated by excessive expenditure on the non-productive sector.
Not only we but many other intellectuals and experts believe that Nepal is on the verge of collapse as the present political system doesn’t suit the nation.

Ananta Dumre, a retired justice of the High Court, believes that the constitution of the country promulgated in 2015 is defective. The present constitution is economically very expensive that the nation cannot bear the cost of functioning it, he has remarked. Moreover, he believes that the present constitution cannot give a stable government due to the provision of proportional elections.

He further adds that Nepal is a tiny country by size and also by population.

However, just viewing the size of the federal parliament and provincial assemblies, Nepal seems to be a giant country. The nation’s revenue is not enough to meet the expenditure for the functioning of the federal parliament and provincial assemblies, he has remarked.
“Geographically, Australia is a hundred times larger than Nepal but the number of federal parliament members is just 151. The United States of America is 67 times larger by size and 11 times larger by population but there are only 435 parliamentarians. In the upper house of the senate, there are only 100 members. India is 23 times larger by geographical size and 45 times larger than Nepal by population but there are only 543 MPs. In Nepal, we have 275 MPs plus 59 Upper House members.

The country has introduced seven provinces with 550 provincial assembly members which are financially unbearable for Nepal. Talking about the government structure, there is a cabinet of 25 member federal ministers and around ten-member cabinet in each provincial cabinet. In Switzerland, there is a cabinet of just six members. Timely correction should be made in the political structures, otherwise, it may become very costly for the nation and the people”, he has remarked.

Continuously declining exports, inclining imports, declining domestic revenue, declining foreign grants, inclining bank interest rate, liquidity crunch in the banks, the economic recession in the market, excessive pressure on the foreign currency reserve, failure in attracting direct foreign investment, rampant corruption in every sector, among others are the major challenges for carrying the economy towards the proper track.
The only option left for the government is to reduce the general sector expenditure.

If we don’t take immediate action for reducing these unbearable expenses or say feed a large number of people’s representatives, it is obvious to collapsing economy.

In other words, scrapping the 2015 constitution and restoring the 1990 constitution can be the only option to save the economy as well as the nation on the whole.

To conclude, I wish to borrow words that appeared in the social networks, “Loktantra gave us secularism, federalism and republicanism ending our religion and culture; collapsing national economy and flourishing anarchism by ending the institution of monarchy!”

“Finally, the foreigners’ mission has been accomplished!”.

Let our readers judge whether to continue the present “Loktantra” or take a decision to move for a change to save the nation!

# Text courtesy: The People’s Review weekly dated April 5, 2023: Ed.

Upadhyaya.