The loot must come to an end!

The ongoing winter session of the House of Representatives continues to be in a limbo. Presumably this stalemate will continue for long as is evident from the firm positions the two opposing sides have taken on over their declared stands. Understandably, the opposition parties who have been candidly demanding the summary resignation of the Prime Minister for his alleged involvement in the procurement of the Lauda air, is being rejected summarily by the ruling party suggesting the opposition wallahs to adopt constitutional means for the ouster of the Prime Minister. The ruling party also hints that such unconstitutional processes as has been acquired by the opposition of late ultimately will make the office of the Prime Minister shaky and prone to repetition of the same events which finally would not be in the interest of the system itself. However, the opposition possesses different views regarding the matter. They opine that such processes if not taken on time would mean remaining mere spectator of the ongoing acts of corruption and that too at the highest political echelons.

Observing the stances taken by the two opposing sides, what could be concluded is that neither the Prime Minister appears to be in a mood to tender his resignation as demanded by his opposing rivals nor the opposition parties will let him go unscathed. The net result: the nation is suffering and the whole democratic system being subjected to a cruel joke. The net effect: the entire proceedings in the lower house of Nepalese parliament has come to a grinding halt and since day one after the session began, no business inside the parliament has been brought for discussion.

The nation is paying heavy. The people remain dumb found. The international community donors included, based in Kathmandu has been forced to bite their tongue. Perhaps the kind of messages they might have been briefing their respective governments regarding shocking state of this country could well be guessed.

Be that as it may, our attention has been drawn towards a news item covered by some of our colleagues the other day which had it that the law makers, the Nepali lawmakers indeed, even in absence of the regular proceedings in the house have been extracting their daily allowances from the parliament secretariat. This is unacceptable. This tantamount to a financial crime. One is not supposed to enjoy the perks and the related facilities when the person concerned abstains from attending his or her institution. One is paid for attending the institution but in our case is just the other way round. The Nepali lawmakers, both in the ruling party and the opposition, must possess enough courage to reject the allowances of the day/days in which they have abstained from joining the proceedings of the house. The money what they have been asking from the finance section of the parliament secretariat as their daily salary or salaries even for boycotting the regular proceedings of the house could be dubbed as an illegal act. However, Nepali system is bit different. What amount illegal for others becomes legal for us and in the process the nation has incurred heavy losses of such sorts in the past that perhaps goes to the tune of millions and millions. No penalty for the wrong doers. The fact is that the competent authority who is supposed to penalize the erratic persons is perhaps himself a corrupt one and hence the whole story gets winded up for good.

Whether the winter session resumes discussions or continues to invite pandemonium of the sort of the freshly witnessed one is not our concern. Our concern is that the lawmakers must not be allowed to enjoy their regular salaries, allowances if they fail to attend the regular proceedings of the house. No work, no pay. The loot initiated by the Nepali lawmakers must come to an end or else the people will have to take care after those who have become a sore for the national exchequer. Perhaps the message is clear. After all we are a nation and must exhibit characteristics of a nation. If we go on allowing such loot to continue for long, no foreign funds will be forthcoming. What would happen then to our "hard earned prestige of being called already as a donor-driven-beggar-nation"? It is any body's guess.

Finally, the stalemate in the parliament must come to an end. If Koirala thinks of resigning, he should resign at the earliest to save the nation from going to the brink. Conversely, if the opposition remains undeterred in their determination, they should do so quickly and save the country from being pushed closer to the precipice.

People's patience must not be challenged.

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