A source at the EC told Republica on Wednesday that a committee headed by Commissioner Dolakh Bahadur Gurung has started studying the financial details furnished by political parties registered with the EC. [break]
"The committee will consult experts and certified auditors while studying the financial details received from the parties," the source said, adding, "If the study finds the political parties not meeting standard accounting practices, the Election Commission will report the shortcomings to the parties concerned."
Officials who have seen the financial details submitted by the parties say that most of the parties seem to have prepared their financial statements just as a formality to escape possible action by the EC. For instance, 19 parties, including Nepali Congress, have submitted only partial financial details, thereby raising legitimate questions about how genuine the reports are.
Despite the existence of legal provisions that empower the EC to revoke the registration of any party that fails to submit its audited financial reports for three consequtive years, only 30 political parties submitted their financial details to the EC by the second week of January, and that too only after they got a reprimand from the EC. Similarly, 31 parties did not respond at all. There are altogether 77 parties that are supposed to abide by this legal provision and submit their reports to the EC every fiscal year.
Political leaders, who need to manage their parties´ finances, concede shortcomings in maintaining proper accounts.
Amik Sherchan, the Maoist party´s finance department chief, said the party central committee does not maintain details of financial activities at the district level as the district committees manage their incomes and expenditures independently.
“We are ready to clarify to the Election Commission about our party´s income and expenditures if the constitutional body wants to verify the financial reports we submitted,” Sherchan told Republica.
His party generated a total of Rs 83 million during fiscal year 2007/08 while it spent Rs 75 million during the same period.
Similarly, the country´s largest party earned a total of Rs 99 million during fiscal year 2008/09 from various sources and spent Rs 92 million the same fiscal year. In addition, the party generated Rs 114 million during fiscal 2009/10 and spent Rs 116 million the same year while its total income last fiscal year was Rs 132 million and expenditure Rs 128 million.
A pertinent question is, weather this level of income is enough to pay for over 80,000 whole-time cadres and mobilize another 200,000 organized members.
“Our party is not like the other, capitalist political parties; our cadres participate in programs organized by the party but while doing so they meet their own expenses,” stated Sherchan, defending the financial details the party submitted to the EC.
Similarly, the accuracy of financial details submitted by the CPN-UML is also questionable. The report shows that the party generated Rs 75 million in fiscal year 2007/08 alone, the highest in the last four years, and it spent 58 million the same fiscal year. CPN-UML generated a total of Rs 67 million during fiscal year 2008/09 from various sources and spent Rs 52 million that year.
Similarly, the party generated Rs 45 million during fiscal 2009-10 and spent Rs 27 million during the same period. Likewise, CPN-UML generated Rs 43 million in 2010-11 and spent Rs 26 million that fiscal year.
Member of the CPN-UML´s central audit commission Bishnu Bahadur Raut said that the income and expenditures of his party are very low because "communist parties are run with the help of cadres and well-wishers".
“While attending the party´s programs, our cadres bring their own rice, pulses and other food items and these expenses are not incorporated in our financial activities. That´s why it may seem our overall expenditure is very low,” said Raut. He also said his party was ready to clarify to the EC if there are any questions over its finances.
“We are ready to cooperate with the EC in this process as it will help the political parties make their financial activities more transparent,” Raut said.
The report of another political party, NC, is not only questionable but also incomplete as it has not submitted its income and expenditure statement for fiscal year 2010/11. It has sought two more months to finalize its statement. The NC collected Rs 16 million in fiscal year 2007/08 and spent Rs 17 million. It generated Rs 3.08 million in 2008/09 and spent Rs 4.01 million. Details provided by the NC show that the party ran a loss in two consecutive fiscal years -- 2007/08, 2008/09. NC generated a total of Rs 49 million in 2009/10 while it spent Rs 9.8 million.
Chief Secretary of NC Basanta Gautam said that the income and expenditures in the report submitted to the EC seem very low because the party has excluded financial activities at district level.
“Our party does not pay for any central leaders like the communit parties do; we just provide salaries to staff working at the central office,” said Gautam.
Gautam also pledged that they were ready to respond to the EC if the constitutional body has any queries regarding the financial reports submitted by NC.
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