सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kathmandu. In the February 11 meeting of the House of Representatives, the chairman of the main opposition party, the CPN-Maoist, and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ accused two-thirds of the government of having middlemen in the driving seat. Standing on the rostrum of the sovereign parliament, Prachanda had said, ‘I want to say with a challenge, tell me a single appointment and a single policy in the last eight months, behind which there are no middlemen. Just one example will do. Your meetings, committees and mechanisms look like a drama. Today, middlemen are in the driving seat of power. I have already explained why the government led by me was removed. Middlemen are in the driving seat of power. It is the audacity and trust of middlemen that has made honest businessmen confused today. Tomorrow you will be the ones who We are waiting to see whose name will be sent.’
Speaking at the Finance Committee meeting of Parliament on 16th Poush, 2081, RSVP Vice President Dr. Swarnim Wagle had accused the government of running at the behest of middlemen. He had said, ‘The manipulations in the Ministry of Finance, the party affiliation of this and that, send them here, send them there, the world of middlemen, this is as bright as the sun, transactions of huge amounts of money, etc., it had to be stopped, to stop this, the places where manipulations were taking place had to be closed, now it had to be settled through customs policy, the current practice had to be stopped.’
Speaking in the House of Representatives on 27th Magh 2081, another leader of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Ganesh Parajuli, had accused the government of corruption and taking land as collateral for five billion rupees while issuing new stock exchange licenses. In the parliament, he had said, ‘Only if there is a competitive service provider, the people get quality services. Therefore, the establishment of a new stock exchange is also our demand. Can’t a competitive institution be established without being entangled in bribery and corruption scandals? It is not that the air has not spread that land was donated as collateral for the stock exchange license. Apart from that, the Prime Minister has said that the game is worth up to 5 billion.
Serious questions are being raised in the House again and again over the appointments being made by the government.
Middlemen more powerful than the government
There is talk that middlemen are becoming more powerful than the government in recent times. It is said that the draft of the seven-point agreement, which is the basis of the current ruling coalition, was prepared in the house of a certain businessman. The talk that the leaders of the Congress-UML have given their red seal to the draft of the new alliance prepared in the house of one powerful businessman has not yet subsided.
Now some businessmen have emerged as a power center who are more powerful than the government. And they are challenging the top leaders of the ruling party and some ministers and government advisors by saying, ‘I made this coalition.’
‘Now it has been established that the source of power and authority is money and that money is being collected by some middlemen called businessmen. They insist on providing resources as much as they say and wherever they say. And the government machinery has come under their control.’, the source told Singha Durbar.
Regulatory body in the hands of middlemen
19 people had applied to become the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal. Among them, the weakest person and the person whose qualifications were publicly questioned got appointed there. The then Prime Minister Prachanda has been publicly accusing his government of being toppled and the Congress-UML alliance formed after the disagreement over the appointment of the board chairman.
There was also pressure from the party cadre to make Bishnu Prasad Poudelal, who became the finance minister in the Oli government formed after the collapse of the Prachanda government, the party cadre. But both Oli and Poudel could not overcome the interests of the middlemen.
The issue of appointing the board chairman has become so complicated that a complaint has been filed with the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority regarding a five billion rupee commission, and even Prime Minister KP Oli has had to express his opinion publicly on it several times.
There have been allegations that vested interests have dominated the appointment process of the chairman of the Nepal Insurance Authority. Dipendra Bohara has filed a complaint with the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, alleging that the chairman of the authority was appointed under pressure from vested interests.
Match fixing in NEPSE too
Otherwise, it is certain that the person nominated by the vested interests will get the appointment in Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE). If the balance of power that prevailed till the time of preparing this news continues, it seems that the Luitel surnamed competitor will win the race for the CEO of NEPSE.
‘Big fight’ over governor: Multiple stakes of vested interests
Who will become the 18th governor of Nepal Rastra Bank? The most interesting topic at the moment is who will become the 18th governor of Nepal Rastra Bank. Will the Congress-UML alliance, which was said to be ready after the disagreement over the appointment of the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal, collapse with the appointment of the governor? This question is currently being raised with the most interest in the banking sector.
Sources claim that vested interests have adopted a new strategy in the appointment of the governor. They will not directly nominate anyone for the governor position like they did in the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal, Insurance Authority of Nepal and NEPSE. Instead, their strategy seems to be to promote characters who have not been in much controversy and who also have a good public image.
‘They seem to have changed their strategy after the exercises of the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal, Insurance Authority, and Nepse. Now they are playing with not one, but half a dozen options. They are planning to create a stir in the name of one character and secretly make another character the governor.’ The source said.
That courage to shake an advisor
The issue of a powerful figure from an interest group shaking an advisor to Prime Minister KP Oli a few days ago is creating waves in UML circles. The issue of the person, who considers himself a power center, reprimanding an advisor to the Prime Minister by saying, ‘I will not interfere in my work’ is getting wide coverage in the tearooms of the UML central office, Chyasal, according to UML-related sources.
A selection and recommendation committee in name only
The government had formed selection committees for appointments to the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal, Insurance Authority, and NEPSE. Some members of those committees are saying that the government (Prime Minister, ministers) is helpless in the appointments. ‘We do not give numbers based on what they have written in the applicants’ files, we give numbers according to what comes in the order from above, it is clear where the order from above comes from.’ A member of the selection committee, who is an expert and participated in the evaluation of the business action plan, told Singha Durbar.
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