High Drama At Parliament During Budget Presentation

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

The parliament has opened its budget session on Friday, July 15, 2011 after the postponement of the budget presentation on Thursday July 14, 2011, as the United Democratic Madheshi Front (UDMF) has threatened to block the budget presentation at any cost. Before Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari could take the podium for reading out the budget for the fiscal year 2011 (2068), Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat taking the time from the Speaker has spoken about the budget leak, and has termed it as a financial crime. Thereafter, Finance Minister has spoken for almost two hours when one of the NC lawmakers has said that the budget the Finance Minister is reading is already on the Internet. So, the Finance Minister needs not to take the trouble of reading it out. Then, one lawmaker after another has started off talking about the budget leak even going beyond the norms and discipline of the parliamentary session.

The budget session is set for July 14, 2011. Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari has come with a briefcase sealed with the red ribbon to the parliament. However, he has to go back with the briefcase, as the UDMF leaders have publicly said that they would not let the budget session run smoothly at any cost. They have said that they are ready to go to any extent to stop the Finance Minister from presenting the budget to the parliament. Then, the government has postponed the budget presentation to the next day hoping that the government would be able to have the dialogue with the UDMF leaders and sort out the problem.

Then, after the postponement of the budget presentation, coming out of the parliamentary hall and speaking to the TV reporters, the Vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission has told the reporters about the size of the budget without any hesitation. Most probably, this man does not know that nobody could disclose anything about the budget to anybody before presenting it to the parliament.

The Finance Minister also has spoken to the reporters disclosing the budget and at the same time asking them for not disclosing it indicating how naïve is the Finance Minister. The job of the reporters is to take any information of the public interest to the people as immediately as possible.

The next day, major newspapers have reported about the budget. Some newspapers have even published the detailed account of the budget. However, the Finance Minister is supposed to present the budget only afternoon. People have already known the budget. Only the formality of the budget presentation is left once even the nitty-gritty of the budget has been disclosed to the public through the print media.

The government has made progress in talking to the UDMF leaders. The government has agreed to recognize the UDMF as the fourth power, and the government would include the budgetary demands of the UDMF in the revised budget. Thus, the talks supposed to be between the leaders of the UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML and UDMF leaders have paved the way for the budget presentation. However, the NC leaders have not showed up in the meeting with the UDMF leaders and the agreement supposed to be signed by the major three political parties and the leaders of the UDMF has been the unilateral agreement of the prime minister, as only the prime minister has signed on the document.

On July 15, 2011 at 5:00 PM, the Speaker has opened the House session for the budget presentation. The Finance Minister is supposed to present the budget for the fiscal year (FY) 2011 (2068) to the parliament. Before the Speaker could invite the Finance Minister to podium, taking time from the Speaker, NC lawmaker Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat has spoken about the budget leak. He has brought the newspaper that has the detailed budget and shows it to all the lawmakers, and has said that it is a financial crime to leak out the budget before presenting it to the parliament. So, the Finance Minister and the Prime Minister have lost the legitimacy to stay on in the offices.

Dr. Mahat said, “we are not going to do what some lawmakers had done last year but the validity of this budget has been lost. So, it does not make sense to present the budget to the parliament.” Dr. Mahat has given even an example of the British Finance Minister resigning from the office after unintentionally hinted the content of the budget to the reporters.

Lat year, some of the UCPN-Maoist lawmakers had punched Finance Minster Surendra Pandey while he was on the way to the podium to present the budget and stopped him from presenting the budget to the parliament. This year, Dr. Mahat has verbally punched not only the Finance Minster but also the Prime Minister stating both of them need to quit the offices immediately, as they have lost the moral ground to stay on in the office.

The then Prime Minister Madhav Nepal defeated in two constituencies followed the most undemocratic way to introduce the budget. He recommended the president to end the budget session and then issue the budget by the presidential order. The president obediently followed the most undemocratic way of introducing the budget through the presidential order. The Finance Minister read out the budget to the ministers and some state staff at the hall of the National Planning Commission. Thus, the government avoided the budget presentation and the discussion on it in the parliament. In this case, the Finance Minister became not accountable to the budget and he did not need to answer to anybody concerning the budget. It was not surprise because the then prime minister was made not following the democratic norms and values but taking the advantage of the loophole in the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007. Dr. Mahat has hinted that he does not want to repeat the same story but he is not for listening to the budget that has been already in the print media.

Then, the Finance Minster comes to the podium without the portfolio containing the budget to say something to the lawmakers. He apologizes to the lawmakers for not being able to present the budget to them yesterday and for the budget leak.

Thereafter, the Speaker invites the Finance Minister to present the budget for the FY 2011 (2068) to the parliament. By this time, the Finance Minister has been very weak and he has not much voice to speak out. He has swallowed half of most of the words making his speech difficult to understand. However, all the lawmakers have the printed booklet of the budget speech except for one; lawmaker of Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chandra Bahadur Gurung has bitterly complained that he has received the budget speech of last year instead of this year. He has said that this has been the highest order of the negligence of the Finance Minister.

Almost after two hours have passed since Finance Minister Adhikari has started off reading out the budget, NC lawmaker Ramesh Lekhak suddenly interrupts the Finance Minister and said, “I have just found out that the budget currently the Finance Minister is reading out is on the Internet. The Finance Minister does not need to read out.” He has sarcastically said that the poor old man needs not to take the trouble of reading it out when everybody can read it on the Internet. Mr. Lekhak has not made any more comments, as he has not followed the rule of the House session for talking, and quietly sits on his chair.

Then, lawmaker of the Rastriya Janashakti Party Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani without taking time from the Speaker suddenly has interrupted the Finance Minister and has said that leaking out the budget to the print media, the Finance Minister has caused the contempt of the parliament and 601 members of the parliament. Dr. Lohani has demanded that the parliament hold an investigation into this serious financial crime.

Parliamentary Party Leader of NC Ram Chandra Poudel stands up from his seat interrupting the Finance Minister from reading out the budget and demands the ruling of the Speaker on holding an investigation into the budget leak. Then, he signals his fellow lawmakers to stand up in protest. All NC lawmakers stand up protesting the budget leak.

Speaker Subash Nemwang has coolly said that he has also sent somebody to check the budget posted on the Internet and he has received the information that in fact the budget for FY 2011 (2068) is on the website of the Ministry of Finance while Finance Minister Adhikari has not completed reading out the budget. He has said that it is a serious matter and a committee on investigation into the budget leak will be set up following the procedures.

All NC lawmakers have continued to stand protesting the budget leak. Mr. Poudel has repeated his demand for the ruling of the Speaker on this serious matter of the budget leak. The Speaker has seriously replied the Parliamentary Party Leader of NC Poudel that he cannot do it, as it is a serious matter and needs to follow the proper procedures to do so. The Speaker in humorous manner has said to them, “please sit down, those are your seats; you can stand at any moment. Why do you need to take trouble in standing? The Finance Minister needs to read out only 20-25 pages of the budget; let him complete it.” Then, the Speaker asks the Finance Minister to continue the reading out the budget. Mr. Poudel sits down; all other NC lawmakers follow him.

Then, a beautiful woman stands up and starts off talking about the budget. The Speaker stops her from explaining the budget but asks her about her concern. She repeats the demand for setting up a parliamentary committee on investigation into the budget leak. She happens to be Pratibha Rana, lawmaker of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal.

Another lady lawmaker gets up and starts off speaking about the budget leak. She has said that the budget leak has been the first in the history of Nepal and it is a black spot on the history. It is a grave financial crime and the Finance Minister needs to be punished for this matter. She is Rukmani Tharu of the Shanghiya Loktantric Rastriya Manch.

Lawmaker of Tarai-Madhesh Loktantric Party Hridyesh Tripathi stands up and speaks in Hindi protesting the budget leak. It does not matter in which language lawmakers speak as long as all lawmakers understand the language they are speaking but the matter is lawmaker Tripathi‘s love for Hindi, and his disregard for speaking any one of the Nepalese languages. For most of the Nepalis, Hindi is a foreign language even though most of the Nepalis might understand it. Mr. Tripathi might be the Hindi scholar but if some of the ethnic lawmakers don’t understand him, then, he is losing because he could not reach the lawmakers he has wanted to reach. Speak in any language you like but do it not violating the rule of law.

The parliament in its next session immediately after the completion of the budget presentation has constituted a committee on investigating the budget leak in the print media and on the Internet before completing the presentation of the budget for FY 2011 (2068) by the Finance Minister in the parliament. Chief whip of the main opposition NC party Laxman Ghimire heads the committee and the members are Jayapuri Ghartimagar and Posta Bahadur Bogati of UCPN-Maoist, Ramesh Lekhak of NC, Bhim Prasad Acharya of CPN-UML, Hridyesh Tripathi of Tarai-Madhesh Loktantric Party, and Kalpana Rana of CPN-Mashal.

Posting of the budget for the FY 2011 (2068) on the web: www.mof.gov.np of the Ministry of Finance and the NC lawmaker getting it on the Internet is a mysterious coincidence. The logic of the event might be the Finance Minister has ordered the staff of the Ministry of Finance to upload the budget for the FY 2011 (2068) after the estimated time of the completion of the budget speech but it has not completed as scheduled because of the repeated interruptions by the lawmakers. NC lawmaker Ramesh Lekhak having a link with such an unscrupulous staff has cashed in on it and exposed the Finance Minster to his irresponsible act if not criminal act.

Watching the live airing of the budget speech of the Finance Minister on the Nepal TV, I have come to the conclusion that most of the lawmakers have behaved as if they are above the law. They say that the budget leak is the contempt of the parliament and dishonoring the lawmakers but they have failed in behaving honorably. However, no doubt, after the financial crime of the budget leak, both the Finance Minister and the Prime Minster have lost the legitimacy to stay on in the offices and they need to quit immediately following the democratic norms and values and keep the prestige of the parliament the Nepalese people have elected. In fact, the lawmakers represent the Nepalese people; so, the contempt of the sovereign people is not tolerable.

July 16, 2011