Kathmandu, Sept 11: Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker Amaresh Kumar Singh has strongly criticized the current government and its working style. Speaking to journalists outside the federal parliament building, Singh claimed that the government was being run not under the prime minister’s leadership but on the instructions of advisers, with an authoritarian style dominating state affairs.
Commenting on a minister who recently resigned, Singh said the minister should have been arrested on the same day police were deployed. He stressed that government actions must follow the Constitution, but alleged that advisers were currently issuing all the directives.
“No adviser has the right to travel abroad in association with intelligence agencies,” he said. “After enjoying state facilities at the ministerial level, one should leave formally through the airport wearing a suit and tie. There was no need to leave secretly.”
Comparing the working styles of Kathmandu Metropolitan City and the current government, Singh argued that both systems had failed. He said the country’s richest metropolitan city had been unable to spend even Rs 6 billion of its Rs 24 billion budget. At the same time, he said, the prime minister of the country had to depend on foreigners even to meet regular expenses. He argued that problems had arisen because both the city mayor and the prime minister had failed to understand their respective roles and responsibilities.
Singh claimed that the four pillars of the Constitution, republicanism, federalism, inclusion and secularism, had been under continuous attack since the current government came to power. He accused the government of promoting nepotism while ignoring inclusion and merit.
“What is a greater example of nepotism in this country than the education minister?” Singh asked. “Universities are autonomous institutions governed by their own laws, yet appointments are being made as if they were branch offices of the Education Ministry.” He accused the government of destroying the education and health sectors.
Singh also claimed that Nepal’s geopolitical balance had been completely disrupted. Citing an example of how ordinary people were suffering because of disputes among government leaders, he said a Madhesi citizen had spent 38 days in jail for bringing in a sack of fertilizer. Nepal, he said, was not landlocked by geography but had become “self-locked” because of its leaders.
Referring to the influence of middlemen in the procurement of medicines, Singh suggested that the centre of power had shifted from Baluwatar to Jwagal.
“Don’t point the camera at me. Keep it focused on Jwagal for seven days,” he said. “It will become clear who comes and goes there and how positions are distributed.” Referring sarcastically to the past, when a prime minister with an eighth-grade education ran the country, he said the situation had become even more chaotic now that advisers with a tenth-grade education were running the state machinery.
Singh also strongly objected to the home minister allegedly trying to intimidate opposition leaders and lawmakers.
“No minister has the right to threaten anyone,” he said. “A minister holds a responsible position. Anyone holding that office must take responsibility for all citizens of the country.”
He stressed that the Constitution gives no one the authority to imprison a journalist or political leader simply for speaking out. Corrupt individuals should face action according to law, he said, but the country cannot be governed according to an individual’s whim or through authoritarian orders. If existing laws are inadequate, parliament can amend them, he said, but no one should be arrested or intimidated at an individual’s discretion.
Singh said an attempt was being made to establish a rule of fear in the country, but such fear could survive only as long as people remained afraid to speak.
“The day fear disappears, the solution will emerge on its own,” Singh said in conclusion. “Fear is already disappearing among the people, journalists and lawmakers. So the end of authoritarian rule is certain.”
People’s News Monitoring Service
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