Barely months old, Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal's government was dealt a severe blow when Finance Secretary Rameshwor Khanal resigned in a hurry and left town, according to The Himalayan Times. Already facing internal squabbles regarding appointment of new ministers and lack of friends among opposition parties, the prime minister could really use a break. Unfortunately, his weak situation has been further hurt by this incident.
Finance Minister's Defense
Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikary told Republica English Daily on April 3, 2011 that he did not play any role in pressuring the finance secretary to resign. But there are numerous reports of a hostile working environment within the ministry, which was further exacerbated by a difference of opinion between the minister and the secretary over how to go about dealing with business-dodging taxes by creating fake Value Added Tax (VAT) bills.
The Civil Servants Union, an organization for Nepal's civil servants, has launched a protest against the finance minister and demanded that the secretary be re-instated. According to Kathmandu Post, it claims that the secretary was put under "needless pressure" and had to resign. Civic organizations have called for better working environment for civil servants and public opinion also seems to be in favor of the finance secretary.
What the Media Won't Say
While the national media has largely been silent on the issue of corruption and behind-the-scenes manipulations at the Finance Ministry, on the blogosphere very frank discussion is taking place.
Nepali language blog Mysansar has posted a couple of articles detailing allegations against the finance minister and also industrialist, Binod Chaudhary, in their role in ousting Secretary Khanal. Chaudhary is also a Constituent Assembly member and is thought to be very close to the finance minister.
Conflict of Interest
Chaudhary and his Chaudhary Group are business royalty in Nepal. They are influential leaders in their field and also have enviable social and political clout. So when Chaudhary joined Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist and Leninist or UML) and was selected to be a member of Constituent Assembly, questions regarding conflicts of interest were obvious, but unfortunately no one cared about it enough.
Now he is being accused, along with the finance minister, of pressuring the finance secretary to resign so that their tax dodging schemes stay behind doors.
Quick Fix
Allegations of corruption and political influence in Nepal's ministries is not surprising. What is surprising, though, is the fact that the government and country's leadership are ignoring fixing small inconsistencies which could help curb these issues. The most obvious one being appointing an active member of business community as a Constituent Assembly member who has enormous influence in drafting financial legislation. If the government fixes small loopholes like this, Nepal's ministries and civil servants will be able to work in much better environment.
Sources
- The Himalayan Times. Accessed April 05, 2011.
- Republica. Accessed April 05, 2011.
- Kathmandu Post. Accessed April 05, 2011.
- MySansar. Accessed April 05, 2011.
Bhumika Ghimire - Bhumika Ghimire is a freelance writer and reporter. She is a content producer for Associated Content and writes for OhMyNews.com and News ...
