Making property details of the prime minister and ministers public is considered a step towards transparency in a democracy. The practice initiated by Girija Prasad Koirala of the Nepali Congress got continuity until 2021, when incumbent prime minister KP Sharma Oli led the government.
Barring the chief justice Khil Raj Regmi-headed government, it was the Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba-led Cabinet formed in 2021 that broke with the tradition.
Deuba and his ministers didn’t make their property details public despite being in power for a year and a half. CPN (Maoist Centre) chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who succeeded Deuba, made the details of property submitted by his ministers public but only after being heavily criticised for not doing so readily.
Dahal and his ministers waited for a year-and-a-half to make their property public. They published the details in May last year, two months before Dahal lost the prime ministership. It was pressure from various quarters that compelled him to share the details.
His successor Oli is now refusing to let the public know the property his ministers own. Seven months in office, nobody from the Oli Cabinet has disclosed their property details.
As a result, opposition lawmakers have asked when Oli and his ministers, who make tall claims about good governance, are disclosing their property.
Presenting a proposal to reject the bill to replace the ordinance to amend some Nepal Acts Related to Good Governance and Public Service Delivery, lawmakers on Wednesday said they do not believe the Oli government wants good governance.
It is empty rhetoric for the government that has been in office for seven months to talk about good governance while it cannot or does not want to disclose the property details, lawmaker Prabhu Sah said.
Lawmakers Prabhu Sah, Prakash Jwala, Prem Suwal and Hitraj Pandey had registered a proposal to oppose the bill’s provisions. Putting forth his views while presenting the proposal, Sah said making the law alone doesn’t ensure good governance. It should reflect in the government’s actions, Sah added.
“First, disclose your property. When is that being done?” Sah asked.
The Corruption Prevention Act, 2002 requires the prime minister and ministers to submit their property details within 60 days of joining the government, while all public position holders need to do so within 60 days of the end of the fiscal year. In addition to the prime minister and ministers, the rule applies to all elected representatives and government employees.
Although the Act doesn’t make it mandatory to unveil the property details, successive prime ministers and ministers made them public as a sign of their commitment to transparency. The details are made public after their submission to the Council of Ministers.
As per the Prime Minister’s Office website, everyone in the Oli Cabinet has submitted their property details. However, it is not sure whether they will be disclosed. “Property details of all the ministers including the prime minister were submitted on time. Now it is at their discretion whether to make them public,” said an official at the PM’s office.
Those advocating good governance and transparency say property disclosure is a tool to hold the people who are paid from the state coffers accountable. They say that people’s representatives should lead by example. Refusing to share their property details, against the tradition built over three decades, is regressive, they argue.
Madan Krishna Sharma, president of Transparency International Nepal, said that the people in power first delay the submission of property details. Then they don’t submit the right information and, third, refuse to disclose the details, he added.
“It is clear that those leading the government are not accountable to the people,” Sharma said. “This is the reason why Nepal is among the countries with severe levels of corruption.”
