KATHMANDU, Dec 13: Chairman of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Tuesday claimed that the big media houses of the country have been captured by brokers and capitalists.

“The tradition of brokers and big capitalists capturing the media houses, which is now prevalent, is a monopolistic approach,” said Dahal while addressing a function organized here by a media outlet close to the ruling party. 

Stating that the trend of big capitalists capturing the big media houses was worrying, he urged one and all to become united to break such a monopoly. 

“This monopoly is a monopoly that spreads misconceptions in the public. It is necessary to break it,” he said. He lauded Janata Publications and Broadcasting, which is believed to be close to the NCP, for taking a new step to disseminate "real information" to the public in a competitive environment and break the trend toward big media houses.

Dahal, a former prime minister, conceded that though the NCP was somewhat successful in building public opinion on certain issues through a people's movement, it had not been able to bring about the progress that the general public could feel in their daily lives.

“We have not been able to perform well. There are questions raised over our performance as the ruling party,” he said, “If people favoring change cannot see to proper management, be it in governance or in the operation of any project, the change cannot be a lasting one.”

He confessed an inability to work efficiently when holding government positions even though they had succeeded in their movement and in the insurgency. There had been a failure in “expertise, honesty and transparency” in governance.

Dahal added that the political achievements of recent years were not bestowed by someone, but were attained through a fight. He claimed he had a role in breaking up some conspiracies and foul play to foil the Constituent Assembly elections and that plots to invite instability would also be foiled.

 
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