NATIONAL 1 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Legislative Activism

Committees of House of Representatives challenge the role of executive in decision making

By KESHAB POUDEL

Of late, the parliamentary committees including the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have developed a tradition of intervening in the executive activities. Whenever the government makes some decision, these committees come out asking for clarifications.

Interestingly, the government, too, seems to be content at handing over the files and documents to the committees while the major decisions are left to be implemented on time.

Sometime the government decisions are stalled for months at end resulting in the wastage of millions of rupees from the state coffers. In most of the cases, the government stays idle while the committees dilly-dally over them.

House of Representatives : Encroaching

If the existing situation persists, constitutional experts argue, the majority government will be reduced to minority in front of the parliamentary committees. They say that executive is equally to be blamed for the development of the current trend.

As an accountable and responsible majority government, the executive should be allowed to take its decision, experts say. That is, until the government's decisions are in accordance with the rules and regulations.

At a time when the questions are being raised about the activism of PAC, another parliamentary committee, the Finance Committee, too, has joined the bandwagon in twisting the arms of the government.

The recent trends show that parliamentary committees are there just to obstruct the government's decision taking authority.

Claimed as the committee responsible to check the government expenditure and public account system, PAC has already created furor by its role.

In the last three months, it has already issued directions to the government on deals including that of ATR-72, RJ-100, Mahakali Irrigation, Procurement of Printing Press and Invoice of Kaligandaki A. PAC has declared that the government has violated the rules and regulation while striking or attempting to strike these deals.

Following the directives of the PAC, the government gives up its process causing major problems to the people and institutions. "If the government is honest enough, it does not have to worry on what the parliamentary committees say. As long as the government holds the majority in the parliament, the parliamentary subject committees cannot do anything," said an expert.

"In the parliamentary practice, the committees are not the whole House," said Bishnu Dutta Upreti, Spokesman of the Parliament Secretariat. "If actions of the executive are in accordance with the existing laws and are impartial, it need not fear the parliamentary committees."

During the coalition era from 1994 to 1999, the PAC virtually acted as a parallel executive. Now, other committees, too, are taking the cue from PAC and have started flexing their muscles.

According to the House of Representatives Regulation 1997 Chapter 26 and Clause 188, the House consists of nine committees including PAC. According to the regulations the subject of the PAC is to study Public Accounts and Annual Report of the Auditor's General.

The Clauses 193 and 194 do not authorize any committee including PAC to issue order to the government. Their role is just to present the report to the full House.

"Is the PAC a part of the executive? If it is simply a parliamentary committee, it cannot censure the government's activities," said former MP Sunil Kumar Bhandary. "The committee must understand its limitations."

Financial control and executive administrative accountability is the very essence of the parliamentary democracy. One of the duties of the PAC is to discuss the report of Auditor General. But in practice the PAC, on its own, is also seen initiating enquiries into various irregularities and issues which have become public even though there was no formal Audit Report presented to the House on the subject.

Traditionally, one of the functions of the committee laid down by the rules is to examine and to report on cases of excess expenditure over voted grants.

Members of the PAC, however, defend their role. "PAC has the right to conduct enquiry and give directions to the government on various issues of irregularities," said MP and former Chairman of PAC Hridayesh Tripathy. "But whenever the committee makes any effort to control irregularities on the part of government expenditure, we have to face strong criticisms from all the different quarters."

Others do not agree and hold the view that PAC cannot dictate the executive. "PAC is violating its jurisdiction interfering in the decision-making role of the executive," said advocate Radheyshyam Adhikary. "The committee cannot dictate what to do and what not to do."

Meanwhile, the debate on the role of parliamentary committees is going on.