Recently, President Ram Baran Yadav, Sushil Koirala and Prachanda’s wife Sita went abroad to seek medical care. Neither the nature of their medical conditions nor absence of medical facilities in the country was the reason for their seeking medical treatment abroad. They went because they could bend rules as they wanted. Trends like these are precursors to the making of royals in this republic.
The communist parties’ cheap tagline of being “a party of the poor” has come with an unimaginable cost: the unprecedented accumulation of wealth by a few, especially by the mother Maoist party. Most of their leaders occupy the upper echelon of the class spectrum in Nepal. Growing rich isn’t bad, but growing rich through illegal means is a serious public offense. [break]
Personal coffers
At this point, it might be worthwhile to remember how political leaders like Padma Sundar Lawoti and Beni Bahadur Karki evaded utility bills of their private residences in the yesteryears. The then royal family and relatives had done exactly the same after the royal takeover in 2005. The unpaid electricity bills alone amounted to over US $450,000 in 2007.
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The embezzlement of combatants’ salary by the Maoist party at the time of integration of PLA combatants is an open secret; reports put the embezzled sum at many crores. The Maoists are said to have a war chest of over Rs. 1 billion collected through embezzlement, coercion and corruption.
Today Prachanda lives in a luxury mansion in Lazimpat, a 1,500-sq meter and 15-room property costing almost Rs 300,000,000. Rumor has it that Prachanda himself owns the property, though it was previously purchased in someone else’s name. Hisila Yami, Barshaman Pun, and CP Gajurel have grown rich overnight, investing millions in real estates and industries.
They now own hefty shares in businesses. Sher Bahadur Deuba lives in a durbar worth more than Rs. 500 million. While jogging one day, I saw UML leader Jhal Nath Khanal escorted by four armed security forces. Each of them was holding something out for him: an umbrella, a radio or a newspaper. It is a disgrace to have such persons as leaders of an abject poor nation.
Rigged systems
The Election Commission’s code of conduct for the upcoming November CA elections had earlier proposed to ban the use of helicopters and airplanes for campaigning. This clause would have minimized unnecessary spending in election campaigns. But since politicos and parties in Nepal have grown used to luxurious lifestyles, campaigning only on motor vehicles or on foot seemed impossible to them.
That is why the prohibition of helicopter and airplanes was met by heavy resistance from the Maoist and Tarai-based parties—both being big young parties with substantial wealth. Then the clause was modified partly, and now EC’s code of conduct allows political parties to charter helicopters and airplanes in 11 mountainous districts.
We are feeding a generation of leaders who, when in the post of Prime Minister, did not think twice about flying a helicopter as near as 20 km from the capital for even small party events. Or who irresponsibly demand the cancelation of infrequently scheduled domestic flights which were supposed to fly legitimate ticket bearers.
In 2012, then Civil Aviation Minister Lokendra Bahadur Bista Magar from Maoist party ordered the cancellation of the state-owned Nepal Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Kangel Danda (which operates only once a week) and Pokhara for the sole purpose of fetching his party chairman Prachanda and a dozen other party members from a cadre training program in Doti.
Another instance of rigging of the existing system for personal benefit was the Pajero scandal which introduced shameless privileges for some people (including parliamentarians, members of constitutional bodies, etc) to import duty free motor vehicles while the rest pay about 200 percent import tax for the same. Sher Bahadur Deuba, during his term in office, also introduced the provision of life long pensions for parliamentarians even if they were elected for just one term. This got almost unanimous approval from then parliamentarians. Other perks for politicians come in the form of vehicles, fuel, security personnel, etc.
Government and leaders are the face of the nation. Someone from abroad would blame us, the citizens, for being forgiving, complacent, or even corrupt on the basis of what our leaders do. Choosing not to care about politics or acting naïve is certainly no solution. For instance, any Nepali passport bearer who has travelled to Germany after Lokendra Bahadur Bista Magar tried to enter the country without a visa is aware of the increased suspicion, screening, and tightened regulations for Nepali nationals at airports there.
Such concentrated distribution of resources, benefits and rigging of power ingrained in the fabric of our society is malignant for the overall health of the country, including that of individual citizens. This results in the loss of belief in the system and its laws, an epic failure for our national institutions and state apparatus. The increasing trend among political leaders to live lavishly only adds fuel to the flame of rumors about a failed state. “Royals of a republic” might be an oxymoron, but it might be fittingly introduced to the lexicon of Nepali society.
The author is a graduate of economics with interest in Public Policy
barshaaa@gmail.com
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