Prime Minister Bhattarai’s decision to fly economy class during his upcoming trip to New York to address the UN General Assembly won him further public applause. We don’t think it was necessary for the prime minister to ride a Mustang Max or fly economy class (with all the discomfort that a long flight can bring to the head of national government), but if he thought it was necessary to send a positive message to the people right from the start of his stint at Baluwatar, we must appreciate that as such.
However, if his commitment to austerity and good governance ends just with the decision to use a Mustang Max and fly economy class, we will be disappointed and his critics, who feel he values cheap populism over long-term, substantive reforms, will feel vindicated. But things indicate that the prime minister is committed to far-reaching reforms in governance. In his first address to government secretaries—the top bureaucrats of the country—he promised that they would not be transferred for no reason or just because of their political allegiance; however, he also warned them that a non-performing secretary will be punished.
The prime minister has now taken the initiative to appoint the chiefs of constitutional bodies and public corporations through open competition. Political appointments, which completely disregard competence and integrity of leadership at public corporations and constitutional bodies, are the root cause of rot in our public institutions. Depoliticizing vital public institutions and state organs and hiring on the basis of merit are key to governance reform.
But there is also another crucial side to governance reform: reforming the political parties. Unless there is sweeping reform in the political parties, especially in the way they mobilize and manage their funds and the way the financial affairs of political leaders remain outside the purview of regular and rigorous scrutiny by the political parties they represent or by state organs, governance reform will remain half-hearted at best.
Corrupt and unaccountable politicians simply cannot deliver good governance. All the political parties, big and small, have a huge problem when it comes to transparency and accountability. The prime minister’s party, the largest in the Constituent Assembly, also has the biggest problem over financial transparency. If Mustang Max is to remain a symbol of reform, it must make it all the way to Parisdada, headquarters of the UCPN(Maoist).
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