Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, March 18:

A commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Beda Prasad Siwakoti, today blamed the existing election system of promoting corruption in the country. “The current election system and several other reasons including low pay scale to the civil servants are the causes for promoting corruption,” Siwakoti said adding, “Political leaders want to collect money to win elections at any cost.” Siwakoti was speaking at an interaction on the provision of submission of property details by public office bearers and its implementation organised by the REMAC Nepal. He, however, said that the CIAA can not take any action against any one unless it gets credible information. Unless the government frames a proper property detail recording system in every service sector including the civil service, judicial service and officials of the constitutional bodies, the problem of corruption and irregularities can not be rooted out,” he added. He also said that provisions in several Acts including the Civil Service Act, Anti-corruption Act and Act Regarding the Service of the University Teachers and Constitutional Bodies are contradictory with respect to keeping record on property.

Meanwhile, two ex-attorney generals Sushil Kumar Pant and Badri Bahadur Karki today accused the CIAA of being biased and incompetent in controlling corruption. They said that due to the CIAA’s incompetence, the King had formed the Corruption Control Royal Commission. However, the CIAA’s joint govenment attorney said that a political issue cannot be discussed in the bench during a hearing.