Failed Leaders And Corrupt Nation

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

After the fall of the despotic monarchical rule, three leaders having power to lead the country have failed because they have been self-centered and could not do anything to resolve the political and economical issues that have been plaguing the country rather they have pushed the country to be one of the most corrupt nations. The Berlin-based Transparency International has assigned Nepal the title of the most corrupt nations among the most corrupt nations of the South Asia.

Officiating Prime Minister Madhav Nepal during his stay in office for thirteen month from May 2009 to June 2010, he has done nothing except for stealing the money from the people’s pockets and the national treasury. He has failed in doing anything concrete to resolve the political contentious issues and halted the peace process and delayed in writing a new constitution.

For stealing the money from the poor people’s pocket, he first increased the price of sugar to Rs 90 per kilogram during the season of crushing sugarcane and milling sugar. Nepalis have paid about Rs 40 per kilogram more than their counterparts in India have paid for sugar. Thus, Madhav Nepal has pocketed hundreds of millions of rupees if not billions from the price rise of hundred of thousands of tons of sugar.

At the same time, he has stolen the money from the national treasury made of the taxpayers’ money. After the state-run company called Salt Trading Limited has completed the purchase of sugar from the mill owners at Rs 90 per kilogram, Mr. Madhav Nepal reduced the price of sugar to Rs 60 per kilogram. He must have pocketed the money came from the difference of the sugar prices, as the company has bought the sugar from the mill owners at Rs 90 per kilogram and then sold to the retailers at Rs 60 per kilogram. Anybody can do a simple arithmetic and find out how many millions if not billions of rupees Mr. Madhav Nepal must have pocketed from buying the sugar at the high price and then selling at the low or market price. Thus, he has stolen so much of money from the state-run company, too. This is one of the glaring examples of how the state monopoly on commercial businesses is so bad for the economy and for the common people. The corrupt politician such as Madhav Nepal can make money out of the state monopoly.

Mr. Madhav Nepal is so smart in stealing money from the people’s pocket, he does not need the state monopoly he needs only the police and the Nepalese people that tolerate everything done by such corrupt politicians. For example, Mr. Madhav Nepal in conjunction with the potato traders has increased the price of potatoes from around Rs 40 per dharni (2.4 kilogram) to Rs 135 per dharni in the Kathmandu Valley. The police have stopped any traders from bringing potatoes into the Kathmandu Valley until the harvesting season of potatoes in the Kathmandu Valley. Again I leave it anybody interested in calculating how much money Mr. Madhav Nepal has stolen from the pockets of the consumers.

The prices of any items in Nepal are dictated by the prices at the Indian market, and the flow of goods in and out of Nepal depends on the price differences of any items because of the open border between the two countries. So, some of the items such as lentils and other foodstuffs have gone up due to the high prices in the Indian market. However, Mr. Madhav Nepal in the name of controlling the process of those items stopped the export of lentils but the prices have not come down rather went up because again making room for suspicion of Mr. Madhav Nepal stealing money one way or another.

The most troubling thing Madhav Nepal has done is restoring the two-billion-rupee subsidy on the fertilizer. In the past, the international community has put pressure on one government after another for several years for removing the subsidy as the subsidy on the fertilizer has been the moneymaking business for the ministers and Prime Minster. After the consistence efforts of the international community, the subsidy on fertilizer has been done away but Madhav Nepal has reinstated it for making money for himself and the future Prime Minister, too at the cost of the common folks in Nepal. This is one of the great misdeeds of Madhav Nepal.

Madhav Nepal has sufficient money to support his cadres and lower level leaders for many years to come. So, he will remain as one of the leaders even though Nepalis have fired him at the two constituencies in the Constituent Assembly election held on April 10, 2008. The Constituent Assembly acts as an interim parliament, too.

Mr. Madhav Nepal has spent a large amount of the taxpayers’ money on his foreign trips and taking the entire members of his cabinet to the Kalapathra: one of the highest mountains nearby the Mount Everest for the publicity against the climate change.

Concerning the political deeds of Madhav Nepal, he has been one of the most failed Prime Ministers of the time. Legislators belonging to the NC, CPN-UML and Madheshi political parties have shamelessly voted for Madhav Nepal in the election to a Prime Minister in May 2009. As a Prime Minister Madhav Nepal is supposed to build a consensus on completing the peace process and the writing of a new constitution. However, he has been a very weak Prime Minister and has spent most of this time making concessions to the partners in power. So, he has made most corrupt leader Bijya Gacchedar his deputy and has resisted making Sujata Koirala: daughter of late Girija Prasad Koirala his deputy for some time but could not resist for long and made her, too, his deputy. As a result, he has stalled the peace process for thirteen months of his time in office.

Making one decisions after another on countering the economical and political measures taken by the preceding government headed by Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda, Mr. Madhav Nepal has created more rifts between the UCPN-Maoist and other political parties that have voted for him. For example, the Government headed by Prachanda has decided to build a memorial to the republic on the premises of the Narayanhiti Palace converted to a national museum. Countering the decision of the previous government, Mr. Madhav Nepal has not only made a decision on building a memorial to a republic in the Ratna Park but also has laid the foundation stone.

Mr. Madhva Nepal has stalled the construction of the Melamchi Drinking Water Project. The previous government headed by Prachanda has awarded the contract for constructing a 27km tunnel for bringing water from the Melamchi River to the Kathmandu Valley but the Madhav government did not continue it boosting the business of private supply of water in tankers. Maybe, Mr. Madhav Nepal has pocketed some money form the private water suppliers, as he has not shown any interest in continuing the Melamchi Drinking Water Project.

He has assigned the construction of the fast track highway from Kathmandu to Nijgad that will make possible to reach Hetauda in three hours to the Nepal Army and gave some money but it is only for the publicity as the Nepal Army will not be able to complete the fast track highway. It cost billions of rupees and involves building several high-tech bridges and a tunnel. If the Nepal Army can do such things why not the government sent the Nepal Army to dig the tunnel to bring the water from the Melamchi River to the Kathmandu Valley. The Nepal Army has cut down trees and cut some rocks in the name of constructing the highway. He has made an aerial and ground inspection of the construction of the highway on November 04, 2010. The Nepal Army has several excuses such as the locals have demanded unusually high compensation for their land and the Department of Forest has not allowed the Nepal Army to cut down the trees. These excuses are for covering up the inability of the Nepal Army to construct the highway.

He has promoted the Toran Jung Bahadur Singh indicted for enforced disappearance of 49 people to the second-in-command of the Nepal Army, has not taken any actions against Major Niranjan Basnet returned from the UN Peace Mission for appearing in the Kavre District Court, and extended the term of another indicated man for the same enforced disappearance colonel Raju Basnet disregarding the outcry of the international and national human rights agencies against those decisions of the Madhav Government. So, Madhav Nepal has been acting against the people’s welfare but working in supporting the culprits for flourishing the impunity.

Madhav Nepal, his defense minister and spokesman for the government have been publicly speaking against extending the terms of UN Mission to Nepal (UNMIN) that has been invited after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement the Government of Nepal has reached with the then CPN-Maoist in 2006 to monitor the members of the People’s Liberation Army of the CPN-Maoist and of the Nepal Army that have been locked at their respective cantonments. Madhav Nepal and his fellow guys have even charged the UNMIN with taking the side of the CPN-Maoist whereas the UNMIN Chief and concerned UN agency have been saying that they have been simply following their mandate. Similarly, some leaders of the NC have been deadly against extending the term of the UNMIN. At the end of the day, they have requested the UN Security Council to extend the terms of the UNMIN. The UN Security Council has extended the term of UNMIN for the last time until January 2011.  All these things have indicated that Madhav Nepal is the puppet guided by a remote control as often Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda has been charging him with.
 

To be continued..