Thank you for returning Rs 4,000 to the Constituent Assembly (CA) secretariat, following revelation by Nagarik daily that you, along with other leaders, drew allowance for days you were not present in the CA meetings.
Politicians owning up responsibility for their wrong doing is a rare example in Nepali politics as is exemplified by the fact that none of the other leaders implicated in the Nagarik news report returned the money. You also deserve appreciation for holding yourself accountable to legitimate public criticism, still a far cry for most of the Nepali politicians. Probity in public life is what we need the most, but unfortunately, this is also what we sorely lack.
All that said, now I want to draw your attention to grave financial misconducts – many a times they amount to financial crimes – that your party UCPN (M) is routinely involved in. This is not to trivialize what you did or to call into question your good intention behind it. I trust your integrity, and that’s precisely one reason why I am writing this public letter to you.
Your attention, and action if you deem necessary, is warranted to stop your party from such financial misconducts, for it gravely imperils our long-term economic interests and society as a whole.
Dr Saab, let me begin with an incident that happened in your home district, Gorkha, as recently as last Tuesday. Your party, under direct leadership of Maoist Gorkha District Secretary Chudamani Khadka, barred all but one local contractor from submitting tender documents for Rs 200 million worth project called by Urban Development and Housing Construction Office, Gorkha. Other potential competitors were threatened with ‘physical action’ – a euphemism for death – by local YCL goons (Om Gauchan, Chairman of Western Region Construction Entrepreneurs has confided this on record). The lucky contractor, who got the sole opportunity to apply for the project, allegedly paid 25 million rupees to your party for the favor. As much is this a mockery of rule of law and an affront to a civilized society, it is also a way of systematically stifling development process.
Dr Saab, you are an engineer by training and a former finance minister, so you perhaps don’t need a lot of explanation. Just take a pause to think what quality of work will the contractor put into the project when he has ‘won’ the contract by paying such a hefty amount to your party. And you can easily guess, the contractor is not the best one around – possibly he’s the worst and most corrupt guy around. Now the project will suffer another deficit as well: How will the local government office do inspection and oversight of the work when they will be under constant threat of YCL goons not to raise a finger against ‘their’ contractor? What kind of work do you expect in these projects?
I can provide you hundreds of such examples from across the country, but I don’t want to bore you with all these. I just want to cite one more example, involving a foreign company.
We have credible information, that your party demanded Rs 260 million from Indian power developer, GMR, to allow it to resume work in Upper Karnali that was obstructed by your party’s local leaders.
We have credible information, corroborated by two Indian sources and a top Nepali businessman, that your party demanded Rs 260 million from Indian power developer, GMR, to allow it to resume work in Upper Karnali that was obstructed by your party’s local leaders. Your party reached a deal, brokered by a senior left-leader from India, with GMR and the latter paid a handsome sum of money – we don’t know how much. When Republica contacted GMR officials in Delhi, they pleaded not to write any news and when pressed for official response they denied bribing your party. That’s all too understandable.
Obstructing activities of a foreign company, which obtained license through due process, for extortion purpose is too serious a crime that the largest political party – or any political party for that matter – of the country can commit. On face value, it may seem like just raking in a few million rupees from a multinational company but its ramifications are far more serious.
First, foreign investors with clean business records will think twice before coming to Nepal because predictability is what they value most when they decide to invest abroad. On the other hand, we will attract crooked foreign companies, with dubious background and with a proven ability to bribe and arm-twist politicians to get things done. This is a worrisome beginning for us especially because we – and your party – dream to attract more and more foreign investment to harness our hydro potential. I am afraid we are on the way to repeating the story of many resource-rich African countries that have messed up with their natural resources and have become classic examples of economic disasters.
The only exception in Africa, and also an illuminating example of how best to manage natural resources, is Botswana. Dr Saab, I hope the Botswana story will interest you. Unlike almost all the other African countries, Botswana negotiated well with a foreign diamond extracting giant, De Beers, and once it struck the deal it stood firm in its commitment and honored it through good and bad times. That provided De Beers much needed predictability and assurance, while many of its rival companies working in the African continent became victim of political-shortsightedness and thuggery.
In course of time, the Botswana government was able to get better deals from De Beers and the latter even agreed to establish ancillary industries that added value to diamonds before they were exported. By this one stroke of negotiation with De Beers, the Botswana state established the rule of law in the country and is reaping its benefit even today. The country doesn’t have a lot of diamonds – actually it has only a modest reserve compared to many resource-rich African counterparts. And it was one of the poorest countries when its colonial masters – Great Britain – left the country in 1966. It had, then, just 12 kilometers of paved road, 22 university graduates and 100 people who had been educated up to a secondary level. Today, Botswana, a landlocked country like us, is among the most prosperous nations in Africa. When the state and political parties follow rule of law firmly, so will the citizens of the country and that’s the real game changer. That’s what ensures stability and prosperity in the long run.
Dr Saab, you are a learned man and a voracious reader, so let me take this opportunity to recommend you a book. “False Economy, a Surprising Economic History of the World” by Alan Beattie is a fascinating book and it will tell you why many of your party’s policies are wrong-headed and its actions disastrous.
Dr Saab, frankly speaking, your party is your biggest problem. And you cannot run away from it, nor am I suggesting that. You have to work hard to change the way things work in your party. In one of our meetings, I had argued with you how quickly your party (with a mammoth organization and hundred of thousands of whole-time, paid cadres) resolves the central question of transparently managing finances will, by and large, decide its fate.
Your party doesn’t seem to have found a way to address this challenge. As a result, I am sad to say, that your party machinery has turned into something like a huge extortion racket. To make things worse, your party has decentralized and legitimized extortion. Your party cadres on the ground are no longer interested in local social-political issues, nor are they working with people. They are busy extorting money because your party leadership has told the local units to be self-reliant financially.
Recently, your party suspended Bishwadeep Lingden, an elected lawmaker from Jhapa-7, for buying a house worth about 15* million rupees through illegal means. Agreed that he had character flaws, but isn’t it also an outcome of the system that your party has put in place? Hasn’t it already produced so many Lingdens across the country?
Secured and legitimate sources of finance is not just the problem of your party, every other party has faced the same problem. It’s partly for this reason many NC and UML leaders were implicated in corruption cases not long after they were in power.
I wish you had focused your energy and imagination to solve this problem instead of condoning, if not encouraging extortion, by your party cadres. And so long as your party is involved in such serious financial crimes under your nose, I am afraid your actions, how much well-intended, will mean nothing.
ameetdhakal@gmail.com
* Corrected.
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