On/Off the Record
By P.R. Pradhan
Despite warnings from the constitutional experts, the chief ministers, to save their chair, are assigning new ministers by splitting the existing provincial ministries. The High-level Administration Reform, Implementation, and Monitoring Committee constituted by the government had recommended for not exceeding more than 18 ministries in the federal government and seven in the provincial government.
The K.P. Sharma Oli led government, by violating the recommendation, introduced the provision of a 25-member federal cabinet. Now, violating the recommendation, the chief ministers are expanding the provincial cabinets. Along with the increase of one ministry, the annual expenditure of the government will increase by one billion rupees. As all the seven chief ministers are in the race of assigning new ministers by splitting the ministries, we can assume the additional cost burden to the government.
The chief ministers are not worried about the increased financial burden to the government but are concerned about their posts. The chief ministers, without a shame, are assigning new ministers just to save their posts. Shameless leaders in the provincial council are in a race to get lucrative ministry but without business. For them, money is everything.
Noted scholar Keshab Prasad Bhattarai wrote a Facebook status, “It is not odd that the leaders are splitting the ministries as they are even ready to split the nation!”.
Noted journalist Yubraj Ghimire has written an article entitled, “Where will be Nepal’s status in 10 years!”
When foreigners asked this question, he was unable to reply as our leaders don’t know about the situation after ten days.
As the leaders who had signed on the 12-point pact are ‘sold out’ and mobilized by the foreigners, the idea that the slogan of nationalism can only come from the supporters of the monarchy is becoming more and more widespread, he has explained.
Ghimire has stated that neither Sher Bahadur Deuba nor Madhav Nepal, nor Pushpakamal Dahal and K.P. Sharma Oli is concerned about the future of the nation!
Indeed, we cannot predict the country’s future as the political leaders are running behind the foreigners’ interests. We have political leaders who cannot sense what are the nation’s interests and what are in the foreigners’ interests! If the leaders were concerned about the country’s prosperity, they would not have introduced such an expensive political system in a tiny country like Nepal! From the first day when the voice for federalism was raised, we had opposed it. We always advocated for autonomous local bodies with strong decentralization mechanisms. If federalism is introduced, the number should not be more than three provinces, we had given the option. But Upendra Yadav, Baburam Bhattarai and Pushpakamal Dahal Prachanda had predicted for around 14 provincial states based on caste and ethnicity. TIt makes clear that they are active in Nepali politics as an agent of foreign powers. When the political parties are unable to manage the seven provinces; when the political parties are unable to give a name to the provinces; when the chief ministers are splitting the ministries to assign more ministers aimed at saving the post, what could be the situation if there was introduced 14 provinces?
The nation is spending the entire internal revenue for managing the increased cost for operating the provincial governments and local bodies. The number of local bodies was increased on the whim of the political leadership by discarding the experts’ prescription.
One sitting minister in the present government said that if Nepal will not receive the remittance revenue, ministers and civil servicemen in the federation and provinces will not be able to get their salaries. What is the financial condition of the country, let’s guess!
Senior journalist Devprakash Tripathi wrote on his Facebook status, “There is the problem on the root but we are trying to remove leaves only.”
The problem, we can understand, is the political system and without throwing away the present system, which has already been proved failed, we cannot expect a better and prosperous future for the country and the people.
Understandably, the leaders have become autocrats as there is a lack of a check and balance system. We need a mentor and that role should be played by the institution of monarchy. We need the protection of our ancient civilization and tradition, which is possible under the monarchy only.
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