The forceful adjournment of the Parliament cannot be justified just because of the opposition party hindering its proceedings for the addressal of its reasonable demands
The disruption of the Parliament has dominated the headlines of the Nepali news media. This is following the interruption created by the Nepali Congress (NC), the largest party in the Parliament, contending that the Minister of Home Affairs, and the President of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Rabi Lamichhane, should step down due to his alleged implication in a cooperative scam to facilitate an inquiry team for the necessary investigation. The NC had reiterated that the inquiry formed under the ministry cannot effectively probe the case against the minister in charge. It is virtually like the committee of mice formed to look into their carnage by the cat.
Lamichhane was the executive director of Gorkha Media Network where Rs 1 billion had been deposited from six cooperatives at a time when J B Rai was the chairman. A petition has been filed, following which Rai has been on the run. It may be recalled that the cooperative scam victims have been protesting in the streets after their life time's savings were not returned to them due to the misuse of the deposit by its managers and officials like Lamichhane and Rai.
The government has succumbed to the pressure and declared the end of the winter session of the Parliament after it was stalled firstly by the NC but later also because of the chorus lent by members of the Coalition, the Unified Socialists and the Janata Samajbadi Party. The government has come forward with the lame argument that it had to be closed for the preparation required to stage the Investment Summit as well as the national budget.
It is unfortunate that the president of the RSP has been implicated in one scam after another. First, it was the dual passport issue and now it is the cooperative scam. The RSP is looked upon as the savior of the country at a time when the people are fed up with the dismal performance of the old political parties. Consequently, people voted it as the fourth largest party in the Parliament at a time when the political stalwarts like Madhav Nepal as well as Mahanta Thakur could not even propel their parties to the national level.
After he was stripped of his post as a Member of Parliament by the Supreme Court due to his dual citizenship, he had again contested in the by-election from Chitwan. People were so disappointed with the parties in power that they again voted him to victory by a wide margin. Now again he has been implicated in a cooperative scam.
Lamichhane was compared to Arvind Kejriwala, the president of the Am Admi Party in India. Unfortuantely, Kejriwala is behind bars for his alleged involvement in an alcohol scam. In fact, two more ministers of Kejriwala's government have been tainted in the corruption charge with Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain still serving their jail sentences and the another Sanjaya Singh recently released following the verdict of the Supreme Court.
Kejriwala was also looked upon as a rising star on the Indian political horizon following which his party had been voted to power in Delhi. It was also proved to be a political force to reckon with in the neighbouring state of Haryana. But the imprisonment of Kejriwala and its party members has dampened its chances in the forthcoming election.
The RSP also appears to be going the Am Admi Party way. The government may have evaded his eventual resignation for now, but it has to return for the summer session of the Parliament when the NC has said that it would take up the case with renewed vigour as they are no longer a solitary reaper now as it has the support of other political parties.
The NC has proposed a parliamenatry committee to investigate into the cooperative scam, which is nothing new. Such a committee had been set up to look into the change of tax proposed by former finance Minister Janardan Sharma by controversially entertaining an unauthorised person for this purpose. Sharma had resigned to facilitate the investigation. He was later reinstated after the probe committee could not confirm the allegation.
Earlier, Ram Sharan Mahat had also resigned after the Opposition party had raised concern about his foreign bank account. He was similarly reappointed after the inquiry committee did not find conclusive evidence to prove the allegation.
Lamichhane had insisted on being the Home Minister allegedly to camouflage his double citizenship. However, he was not successful and had to bear with the expulsion from the Parliament. Now also he has become the Home Minister presumably to evade the cooperative scam. He is not likely to succeed given the steadfast declaration of the NC as well as his likely involvement. Had not the later been the case, Lamichhane would have agreed to the formation of the probe committee as Janardan Sharma had willingly done.
If Lamichhane is proved innocent, the RSP will come more strongly in the next election. If otherwise, which is most likely in view of Lamichhane's refusal to set up a parliamentary committee, the RSP will take a nose dive in the next election, giving the impression that the new parties are no better than the old parties so far as corruption is concerned. This will be unfortunate for the country as it will have to bear with the torture of the non-performing old political parties again.
The prorogue of the Parliament by the government may be a political victory, but it certainly is a moral defeat. The disturbance created by the NC is far less than what the Unified Marxist-Leninist had launched in the post-democracy era. The forceful adjournment of the Parliament cannot be justified just because of the opposition party hindering its proceedings for the addressal of its reasonable demands.
