KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 3

Leader of Opposition KP Sharma Oli accused the government of carrying out witch-hunt against those that are critical of the government, saving coalition leaders from corruption probe, and letting criminals walk out of jail easily.

Speaking from the rostrum of the House of Representatives Oli said the government had threatened lawmaker Amresh Kumar Singh saying it would launch a disproportionate assets case against him after Singh criticised the government. The government, he added, is carrying out witch-hunt against lawmakers who criticise it.

Oli urged all lawmakers to unite on issues of nationalism, national interest, national unity, tolerance, development efforts and foreign policy issues. 'We should not help prolong this goodfor-nothing coalition government that wants to ruin the country,' he added.

Stating that the government was carrying out a series of attacks on the constitution and was thus inviting constitutional crisis, Oli accused the government of carrying out planned efforts to undermine national unity and tolerance. He said the government did not arrest people who wanted to kill him. Oli said the government's threat to start investigating all cases of corruption was a sham as it had tried to save coalition leaders who were accused of wrongdoing in the Lalitaniwas land grab case.

Oli said that lawmaker Sunil Sharma who ran medical hospitals was arrested and handcuffed, but a person accused of smuggling one quintal gold was let off.

This government is irresponsible, arbitrary and anti-development, he added.

Development projects have been halted and payments have not been made to those contractors that have already completed the projects. Oli said that contractors who have not been paid for their work, have failed to pay off their debts and clear dues and as a result, they have been blacklisted. He said: There is no good governance at all.

Muskan Khatun, a victim of acid attack continues to suffer as her wounds are yet to be healed, he said and added, the government has, however, released the perpetrator in Khatun's case within four years. Is this justice? The government is not providing treatment to her, Oli added. Oli said that 9.5 kg gold was seized from vapes, but the home minister did not arrest the accused. 'When 100 kg gold is seized while being smuggled into Nepal, the home minister tries to cover up,' Oli said. He added that the person who smuggled 100 kg gold, may be a mule, but he was let off. 'The home minister says opposition forces are creating obstacle in the government's good governance campaign, but he lets the person who smuggled 100 kg gold go Scot free. Is this good governance campaign? He wondered. He also condemned the government's decision to pardon murder convict Yog Prasad Dhakal Rigal.

Yog Prasad Dhakal Rigal who killed Chetan Manandhar in broad daylight with a chopper and was slapped 20 years jail term by the district court walked out of jail after serving three to four years jail term,' Oli said and added that Nepalgunj residents fear for their lives after Dhakal was released from jail.

A version of this article appears in the print on October 4, 2023, of The Himalayan Times