'Our-man' syndrome

The Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), the main partners in the coalition government, have delayed appointments to long vacant posts in constitutional bodies, thus paralyzing their functioning. The posts of head of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and the chief of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) have been lying vacant, the latter since almost four years. The negotiation between the NC and the UML – which by virtues of being the largest parties in the government are going to finalize the names – has failed, thus holding the appointments. Since these are fixed-term appointments, meaning that once appointed, the officials cannot be removed unless the parliament or a court throws the occupants out. Hence, there is intense lobbying for these positions. Besides the NRB and the CIAA (which also needs at least three new commissioners), there are other constitutional bodies such as the Auditor General’s Office and the Public Service Commission where posts have remained vacant for a considerable period of time.



Each of these two political parties wants to appoint ‘their man’ to the post. Competence and merit are not in play here. Had that been the yardstick for appointment to crucial posts like governor of the central bank and chief of the anti-corruption body, CIAA, the positions would have been filled a long time ago. Those in the financial sector have high stakes in who becomes the governor of NRB, which sets annual monetary policy besides issuing guidelines that impact the banks and other financial institutions. The central bank insiders point out that the financial sector doesn’t want a ‘strong’ candidate to man the post of the governor. As for the head of the CIAA, with politicians themselves facing corruption-related charges, no wonder they want a ‘pliant’ chief commissioner.



This development, however, is not new. It is symptomatic of how our politicians operate. This also is yet another example of how irresponsible and callous our political leaders can get. Instead of finalizing the names so as to ensure smooth functioning of the constitutional bodies, the NC and the UML are bickering to appoint ‘their man’. We strongly denounce this inaction and pettiness on the part of these two parties.



Politicians in our country usually fail to demonstrate that they have parted with old ways which has earned them disrepute. They have been accused of nepotism over appointments to ‘cream’ posts, be it constitutional bodies, government-owned corporations and agencies or police. The charge of money changing hands to decide on an appointment or a posting is not a new phenomenon. This is an opportunity for the parties to demonstrate that only merit and competence would be the criteria. We ask the leaders to rise above their petty interests and finalize the best available persons for the posts without any further delay.

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