Lawmakers Decry Selective Bias in Prosecuting Party Leaders

Kathmandu, May 18 -- Nepali Congress lawmakers have raised questions over the actions taken by law enforcement and anti-corruption bodies against the party's leaders on various charges.

Speaking at the Congress' parliamentary party meeting on Saturday, several lawmakers also accused the state agencies of being selectively biased against Congress leaders while sparing leaders from another ruling partner, the CPN-UML, linked in similar charges.

Though the meeting was convened to discuss the issues related to the government's budget to be unveiled on May 29 for the upcoming fiscal year, many speakers were reportedly focused on criticising the government.

Moreover, according to lawmakers present at the meeting, some lamented that the Congress, the largest party in the House of Representatives, was treated as a junior partner in the government. Party's general secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma, among some other key leaders, however, were not present at the meeting.

They asked why mostly Congress leaders were being arrested or facing court cases one after another.

The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on May 15 filed a corruption case at the Special Court against 16 individuals including Congress lawmaker and former minister Mohan Bahadur Basnet and top government officials on Teramocs procurement scam.

With the corruption case filed against him, Basnet has been automatically suspended as a lawmaker.

The UML leader and lawmaker Gokul Prasad Baskota was also linked to the Teramocs scam. However, no case has been filed against Baskota and another Congress lawmaker and former minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki.

Meanwhile, Congress lawmaker Maya Rai on April 25 was arrested for her alleged involvement in cooperative fraud and organised crime. She is accused of misusing substantial depositor funds during her tenure as assistant secretary at the Swarnalaxmi Cooperative based in Kalimati, Kathmandu. The Kathmandu District Court ordered Rai's release on a bail of Rs1 million on May 14. She also spoke at the meeting and complained that she didn't get any support from the party and leaders when she was in custody.

Congress lawmakers mentioned a cooperatives scandal in which Anjala Koirala, wife of UML leader and chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Rishikesh Pokharel, has been accused and argued that the authorities had gone easy on her.

Koirala was released on bail without being kept in custody. "The question raised by many is why have legal proceedings been initiated only against Nepali Congress leaders?" a Congress lawmaker told the Post.

While leaders speaking in the party's parliamentary meeting called for a review of the government, party president Sher Bahadur Deuba, however, addressing a programme organised by the Democratic Thought Society in Kathmandu earlier on Saturday, said that although the Congress is the largest party, it does not have a majority, making it necessary to form a coalition government.

He also pointed out that within the current system, parties must collaborate with one another to manage the government and even to participate in elections.

A Congress legislator stated that President Deuba remained silent during the parliamentary party meeting when it came to discussing the government.

Lawmakers from the Congress party have questioned the way the government is being run amid recent meetings between Congress leaders and those from the Maoist Centre, which has led to speculation about potential changes within the current coalition.

On Thursday, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, chairman of the CPN (Maoist Centre), reached out to Deuba via a call made from Dadeldhura, which is the home district of Congress leadership. Later, Janardan Sharma, who serves as the deputy general secretary of the Maoist Centre, paid a visit to Deuba’s house. These events led to various speculations among observers.

"The party president's conversations with Maoist leaders and other meetings have nothing to do with government changes as speculated," said lawmaker Prakash Sharan Mahat, also the Congress spokesperson.

According to the party's Chief Whip Shyam Kumar Ghimire, although there was a general discussion about the government in Saturday's parliamentary party meeting, no leader expressed views suggesting that the party should consider an alternative to the current government. He stated that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the upcoming budget, and the discussions largely focused on that agenda.

When asked whether the long-delayed issue of the appointment of the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank was discussed, Ghimire stated that the matter had indeed been briefly discussed.

The governor will be appointed within a few days, Ghimire said.

Ghimire informed the Post that the discussion about the governor took place between the government and the party’s suggested nominee, Bishwo Paudel, who is expected to be appointed as governor within a matter of days.

As he stated, legislators highlighted the careful and equitable distribution of the development budget.

A party legislator named Shankar Bhandari has proposed that the budget should encapsulate the feelings and attitudes of young people.

"The government must create an environment where it takes full responsibility for the agricultural production of the farmers," Bhandari said. "Only then will farmers be motivated to work."