सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kathmandu. In recent times, competition has been overshadowed by the middlemen in political appointments. The number of people applying has started to decrease as middlemen have already decided on candidates in various public institutions and bodies.
The selection process for the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) has been affected for the last time. Interested applicants have been stopped after rumors spread that middlemen have already decided on candidates. The Ministry of Finance has formed a three-member committee to select the CEO of (NEPSE).
The committee, coordinated by Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Sewantak Pokharel, has Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Amrit Lamsal as a member and Dr. Khomraj Kharel as an expert member. The committee published a notice on Falgun 12 and requested applications from interested applicants within a week. On the last day of the notice, on the 18th, only one application was received. Even during the extended time, no application was received till Wednesday (Falgun 21).
After only one application was received on the 18th, the committee has extended the deadline to Falgun 25. A member of the selection committee said that the deadline had to be extended because it was a three-day government holiday.
An aspirant told Singha Durbar, “The middlemen have already prepared candidates for whom they will appoint, why apply just to participate? In recent appointments, middlemen have been humiliating capable people.”
The aspirant says that it does not matter after the middleman recommends him.
Questions on the qualifications of NEPSE CEO
The notice published to select the NEPSE CEO demands qualifications as per Rule 16(a) of the Securities Market Operations Regulations, 2064. But in Rule 21 of the same regulation, it is mentioned that the provision of this regulation regarding the appointment of directors and chief executive officers shall not be applicable to the existing securities market, as it is stated that ‘Notwithstanding anything written elsewhere in this regulation, the provisions of this regulation shall not be applicable to the appointment of directors and chief executive officers until the shares of the Nepal Securities Exchange Market adopted by the Government of Nepal, Nepal Rastra Bank and Nepal Industrial Corporation are sold.’
According to which it is argued that the qualification of 16 (a) is not applicable. An aspirant said that when the intermediaries amend the future law in the selection of CEOs, the current qualification will not be applicable. The aspirant said, “Rule 16(a) has been clearly cut by Rule 21, but the qualification has been demanded as per Rule 16(a) in the notification, which has clearly paved the way for bringing in a middleman as the CEO of NEPSE.”
Seventak Pokharel, coordinator of the selection committee, says that there is no alternative to the qualification of NEPSE CEO under Rule 16(a). Coordinator Pokharel said, “Rule 21 has cut the provision that the right to select the CEO does not vest in the board of directors, there is no alternative to the qualification of CEO under Rule 16(a), we have moved forward with the CEO selection process only after completing all the legal procedures.”
The Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal is making final preparations to grant a license to a new stock exchange like NEPSE. After the new stock exchange comes, the business of NEPSE will have to be taken away and given to a new one. According to sources, middlemen are preparing people to weaken NEPSE.
Middlemen terror in the appointment of the board chairman
19 people had submitted applications for the appointment of the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal. But the middlemen had submitted a list of names to the coordinator of the selection committee, Prof. Shivraj Adhikari, asking who would be among the best five people. The selection committee worked accordingly.
After the names of the five people were made public according to the middleman’s list, some of the top five people refused to give interviews. According to sources, the middlemen had put forward the name of Santoshanaran Shrestha for the board chairman. Shrestha was promoted by giving the highest number of marks in the selection process itself.
A member participating in the selection process said, “The evaluation of the business action plan cannot be given in terms of excellence, the list of names comes in advance regarding who will be promoted.” Similarly, only 12 applications were submitted to the Insurance Authority due to the dominance of intermediaries.
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्