Neglected voices:

January 15 was a historic day in Nepal’s history. It saw the demise of the old House of Representatives and the birth of the interim statute and the interim legislature. But many lawmakers, including party leaders, have said that the Interim Constitution ignores voices outside the eight political parties. Of course, an interim constitution is not supposed to be perfect and amendments are always possible. At a time when Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala himself has expressed worries that an all-powerful PM might do more harm than good to the country, perhaps it is worthwhile to ponder on Abraham Lincoln’s famous quote, “No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent”.

Therefore, the political parties should keep the mandate of the Jana Andolan II in mind while making major decisions.

Surya B Prasai, via e-mail

Exclusion:

Speculation over the 48 new faces in the 330-seat Interim Parliament ended in disappointment after the political parties, for the most part, nominated the same old and defeated faces. It was said that those seats would be set aside for prominent figures from

different backgrounds. However, with the exception of the Maoists, no political party has acted according to that understanding. Their feudal and exclusive tendencies have been exposed. Journalism, sometimes called the fourth organ of state, and human rights bodies have been totally ignored. The interim parliament does not fully represent all sectors of the society.

Hemanta K Thakur, Germany

Hypocrisy:

Good governance and corruption-free Nepal were two of the central demands of the Jana Andolan II. Yet Finance Minister Dr Ram Saran Mahat, who in his budget speech stressed good governance, has appointed Devendra Pratap Shah as the chairman of the Agriculture Development Bank Limited (ADBL) for the second time. Shah has been implicated in a case of diverting over Rs.600 million of public deposits to construction of a dozen unnecessary office buildings despite the Nepal Rastra Bank’s directives and the employee unions’ written appeals not to do so. The newly-built buildings lie unoccupied. Such appointments will cast doubts on the government’s commitment to build a New Nepal and on the ongoing efforts aimed at reducing ADBL’s huge non-performing loans and non-banking assets which Shah had himself accumulated during his first term. So Dr Mahat should explain to the public why he favoured Shah. Or does his view of democracy and good governance permit such decisions?

Ramesh B Shrestha, Lalitpur

US visa:

Recently, the US embassy in Kathmandu has been rejecting a lot of candidates applying for American visa for no good reason. It seems that the selection process is as good as gambling, depending on the mood of the visa-giving official. It is unfair to the applicants whose money and time are thus wasted needlessly. The US should also demonstrate some transparency regarding visa procedure and criteria for acceptance.

Nishant Adhikari, via e-mail