Holding all politicians accountable

After taking care of the royalty for mismanaging and corrupting Nepalese society from above for centuries, it is not time to take care of the political leaders who have been accomplish and done the same thing in their own ways. To restore true democracy in Nepal, and establish a fair and just society, these leaders should be put under close scrutiny and meted what they deserve. The news below is a wake up call for greater vigilance...

PM, Prachanda among leaders misusing govt, private vehicles
By Balram Baniya and Bikash Thapa

KATHMANDU, Nov 25 - Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and CPN-M Chairman Prachanda are among top politicians using government and private vehicles they are not authorized to use to. Top leaders of other political parties and other highly-placed government officials, too, have been making unauthorized use of government vehicles.

Sources have disclosed that top officials of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and other government departments running multiple projects, expecting favour in return from the leaders, encourage them to misuse government and project vehicles.

According to sources, soon after Koirala became the prime minister after the success of the April Movement, NEA officials gave him a luxurious Prado with registration number 1602.
It’s not only the NEA vehicle, the PM has also taken a vehicle from the Melamchi Drinking Water Project. The number plate of the Melamchi vehicle has been switched to make it look a private vehicle with registration number Ba 4 Cha 6661. The home ministry has reportedly given permission for the switching of the registration number.

Two government vehicles are already available to Koirala in the capacity of the prime minister, besides a tax-exempt Pajero which he got in 2053 BS as an MP. The prime minister has also taken another vehicle from the Melamchi project.

The concerned sides have no idea if the prime minister’s family members or leaders/cadres of his party, the Nepali Congress, are currently using these vehicles, which have been taken “for the use of the prime minister.”

It has also been revealed that the prime minister also has a vehicle “gifted” to him by former chairman of the Nepal Cottage and Small Industries Development Bank, Sitaram Prasain, who is wanted by police.

It is noteworthy here that Prasain, whom the Nepal Rastra Bank, the country’s central bank, has accused of embezzling millions of public money, was not arrested though he attended Korean Air’s inaugural flight function at the Tribhuvan International Airport on November 13.
Likewise, Chairman of Rastriya Janshakti Party Surya Bahadur Thapa, too, has been using a Landcruiser belonging to the Melamchi project for the last three years. He has illegally changed the vehicle’s number plate from government (Ba 1 Jha 6607) to private (Ba 4 Cha 8875).
Minister for Physical Planning and Works and NC-D vice-chairman Gopalman Shrestha, too, has taken two new vehicles (Ba 1 Jha 5766 and 6604) from the Melamchi project. He has already been provided with a government vehicle in the capacity of a minister.

It’s not only leaders and ministers who have been misusing Melamchi vehicles. The Singh Durbar Ward Police Office has not returned a pick-up vehicle belonging to the project despite being reminded to do so many times.

NC-D President and former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, too, has taken a Pajero from the NEA (registration no. Ba 1 Jha 8414), soon after the establishment of Loktantra. He has changed the vehicle’s number plate so as to make it look like a private vehicle. Deuba currently doesn’t hold any government position. But his party’s central member Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, who is the Minister of State for Water Resources, has provided him with the NEA vehicle. The NEA bears all expenses of the vehicle, including fuel, repair and maintenance. Deuba also has a Pajero which he received in the capacity of an MP.

State Minister Karki has also taken an NEA vehicle (a Prado with registration no 4449) for his own use though he has already got a vehicle from the ministry.

Secretary at the Ministry of Water Resources, Tika Dutta Niraula, too, has been misusing an NEA vehicle (registration number 1512) meant for the Mid-Marshyangdi Hydel Project. He, too, gets a vehicle from the ministry.

UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal has been using a vehicle gifted to the Manmohan Smriti Pratisthan by owner of Shri Distillary Mathura Prasad Maskey for the past five years. Nepal is the patron of the Pratisthan. Maskey is wanted by the Internal Revenue Department “for evading taxes worth a billion rupees.”

Maoist leaders Prachanda and Dr Baburam Bhattarai have been using a vehicle forcefully seized from a businessman named Raju Shrestha. Both Prachanda and Bhattarai use the vehicle by switching the registration number plate. The Maoists has looted the vehicle from Shrestha after thrashing and torturing him sometime ago.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, the constitutional body responsible for checking such misuse, is itself misusing an NEA vehicle by switching the number plate.
Nepal Police is yet to return two NEA vehicles (registration no. 1238 and 1265) which it took during the direct royal rule. The NEA has no idea as to who is using 19 of its total 779 vehicles.
Deputy Prime Minister KP Oli, Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Hridayesh Tripathi have been using government vehicles though all of them have a Pajero each which they got in the capacity of an MP.

Former minister and NC leader Ram Chandra Paudel’s driver gets his salary from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Office. Paudel’s driver is a KMC employee. Though Paudel, as the coordinator of the Peace Committee, uses another government vehicle, his driver is still the same.

Nobel Prize for GPK?

I have been hearing this since the first news of peace accord. That seems little fortuitious to me. If the "Prize" were to be awarded it cannot be only for GPK. Let's look at some history from Nobel sitg:

1973: The prize was divided equally between: Kissinger, Henry A., USA, 1923-.Former Secretary of State; and
Le Duc Tho, North Vietnam, 1910-1990. (Declined the prize.) Jointly negotiated the Vietnam peace accord in 1973.

1978: The prize was divided equally between:Al-Sadat, Mohammad Anwar, Egypt, 1918-1981. President of Egypt; and
Begin, Menachem, Israel, 1913-1992. Prime Minister. Jointly negotiated peace between Egypt and Israel.

1993: The prize was divided equally between: Mandela, Nelson, South Africa, 1918-. Leader of the ANC. and
de Klerk, Frederik Willem, South Africa, 1936-. President of the Republic of South Africa.

1994: The prize was divided equally between: Arafat, Yasser, Palestine, 1929-2004. Chairman of the PLO; and
Peres, Shimon, Israel, 1923-. Foreign minister of Israel; and

Rabin, Yitzhak, Israel, 1922-1995. Prime minister of Israel. Awarded for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East.

So is there not a bias or misunderstanding of peace process in thinking GPK is the one deserving, but not Prachanda?

More positive developemnt after peace accord

Acharya correctly identifies the moin problem that remains in sustaining peace in Nepal. The royals will never rest in peace for the good of all Nepalese if they were to be kept in ceremonial role. They do not deserve it with the record of this particular family. Stronest actions should be taken for their misdeed.

No peace as long as there is monarchy: Acharya
Kantipur Report

KATHMANDU, Nov 24 - Nepali Congress central member, Narahari Acharya on Friday said that there would be no peace in the country as long as the monarchy continues in Nepal.
Acharya made the comments today during a meeting with media persons at Dhankuta.

"The Congress should launch a village campaign for a republic setup instead of a village campaign for peace," he opined.

The NC had decided to launch a "village campaign for peace' immediately after the historic signing of the November 21 accord.

Alluding to the same decision, Acharya said, "Now the party must call a special convention as soon as possible to opt for a republican setup."

The NC leader added that since there would be no peace in the country as long as monarchy continues, the NC needs to launch a republic campaign instead of a peace campaign.

Acharya, who had reached Dhankuta as a part of the NC's nationwide campaign to rally support for the establishment of a democratic republic setup, also urged the Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to democratise the party ranks.

During the meeting, Acharya said that despite the emergence of democracy in the country, the mentality of the masses remained unchanged.

In another context, the NC leader stated that the congress unification would go ahead after the formation of the interim government.

Finally, something good is happening in Nepal. It is setting an example for other authoritarian society on how to defeat the autocrats. This piece of news about finding the king guilty is unprecedented. One can take heart that tyranny cannot last forever.

Source (Hindustan Times)
Commission finds King Gyanendra guilty of suppression: reportIndo-Asian News ServiceKathmandu, November 15, 200609:59 IST

A high-level commission set up in early May to investigate excesses by King Gyanendra's government in trying to put down a 19-day pro-democracy movement which found King Gyanendra "guilty of suppression and killing of people", newspaper reports said on Wednesday.
Headed by former judge of the Nepalese Supreme Court Krishna Jung Rayamajhi, the panel was set up soon after a pro-democracy movement forced King Gyanendra to hand over power in late April to a seven-party coalition.

King Gyanendra did not reply to a set of questions sent to him by the panel in the course of its investigations of those responsible for allegedly using "excessive force" to put down the movement spearheaded by the seven-party alliance and the Maoists.
The daily Himalayan Times cited sources in the Rayamajhi panel as saying that the commission found that King Gyanendra was responsible for suppression and the deaths of people during the pro-democracy movement.

The commission decided to urge the government and Parliament to take necessary steps against the king, as no law permits action against him.

The commission, which spent 184 days to complete its investigation, is scheduled to submit its report on Friday to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

"We have decided to recommend the Parliament to take necessary steps against the king, as we found him guilty," a highly placed commission source reportedly told the newspaper.

He added that they have said that though the king did not respond to the commission's questionnaire, it does not mean he did no wrong.

This is the first time in Nepal's history that a commission, seen by some as a panel set up by the victors to punish the vanquished, has found a king guilty.

"Since he was the chairman of the council of ministers, we found him responsible for all the decisions taken by the cabinet," the source added.

The commission specifically recommended that the government take strong action against members of the king's cabinet and the chiefs of the security agencies who ordered use of "excessive force" to suppress the movement.

The panel had questioned 294 people over human-rights violations and alleged misuse of the national treasury.

It has accused some security personnel of ordering the shooting of demonstrators and decided to recommend prosecution of them on charges of murder.

"Around 150 people were found guilty of killing and suppressing the people," Himalayan Times quoted the panel source as saying.

The commission held the then vice-chairmen of the council of ministers, Tulsi Giri and Kirtinidhi Bista, Home Minister Kamal Thapa and other ministers guilty of violating human rights.
The commission is set to ask the government and Parliament to promulgate a law so that the alleged perpetrators can be prosecuted on charges of abusing human rights, as Nepal has no specific law to prosecute anyone on charge of human rights abuse.

The commission named certain officials and recommended dismissals, demotions and departmental actions against them.

Many ministers and regional administrators were also found guilty of misusing the state treasury.

The commission decided to recommend that they be prosecuted under the 2002 Anti-Corruption Act, the newspaper reported.

The panel report, which appeared to have been leaked to the local press, was carried on Wednesday in all major Nepalese newspapers.

About two dozen people were killed and thousands reportedly injured in the April pro-democracy movement launched by the seven-party alliance, with the active support and participation of the Maoists.