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

Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal is frequently saying that the present political system is still facing a serious threat as those regressive elements are actively involved in failing the present system.

Others, who were involved in introducing the present political system, are also expressing the same remarks. The fact is that the present political system is under threat not because of those who have not accepted the present constitution but because of the act of those representatives who are involved in daylight loot.

This is not an allegation made by this scribe but reports presented by different organizations have spoken a lot. The recent report from the Auditor General’s Office has explained the irregularities and planned exploitation of the government coffer by those government officials and also those people’s representatives in three organs – federal government, provincial governments and local bodies.

The amount misused by those authorities has stood to the trillions of rupees. Or say, the present perversions are the characteristics of the present political system. The Supreme Court is functioning without a chief justice for 14 months. Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal is seen as reluctant in appointing chief justice, the post has remained vacant for a long time.

Due to the absence of a chief justice, many posts of justices in different courts have remained vacant. The BAR Association, an umbrella organization of legal practitioners have warned of launching agitation if the chief justice is not appointed within a week. PM Dahal wants to appoint his confidant to the post of chief justice with the plan of influencing different court cases.

The Commission for Investigation on Abuse of Authority (CIAA), an autonomous body for investigating and punishing corrupts, has become powerless as it is unable to catch big fish. In conclusion, all the organs have been made defunct by the “people’s representatives” so that they can freely organize daylight loot. Only those small fish are facing actions but the big fish are involved in open corruption and commission practice.

During the Panchayat days, we don’t say the system was free of corruption, however, the amount of corruption used to be very small and those corrupt people, if found red-handed, were discarded by society. Today, as exposed from audio, the Rastriya Swatantra Party MP demanded 20 million rupees for him to become the health minister.

Earlier, we had reported that to become an ambassador, the minimum amount to be paid to the special group is 60 million rupees. There is no meaning of meritocracy in the dictionary of our supreme leaders in the political parties. They follow different ideologies but they are together in sharing power and the amount received by selling those powerful and influential positions.

The nation’s economy, although, those looters claim that improving, is not good.

Local industries and also local productions are discouraged by the government. The government revenue has solely relied on customs duty received from imports of goods not from exports.

If there will be a decline in imports, the government is unable to manage even general sector expenditure, which, we have seen in this year’s revenue collection. The government is paying salaries and allowances for those government employees by taking loans.

If the nation doesn’t receive remittance revenue sent by those youths shedding sweat in Gulf countries, the foreign currency reserve as well as the balance of payment will go negative.

We could see an outsider being present when senior Finance Ministry officials were preparing the budget. The outsider’s role was to change the tax rates on goods imported by some business houses. We saw the involvement of towering leaders in the Lalita Niwas land scam, valuable public property in Baluatar, just adjoined to the PM’s residence. Those leaders involved in manipulating public property are moving around freely.

We saw the disappearance of 35 kgs of gold smuggled from the Tribhuvan International Airport. Every time, probe committees are formed but the reports are kept secret and a clean chit is given to those involved in such scams.
If the present system is allowed to continue further, it is sure that those leaders are going to finish this beautiful and prosperous nation.

#Text courtesy: The People’s Review Weekly dated April 19, 2023: Ed. Upadhyaya.