KATHMANDU, July 14: Member of the House of Representatives Nishkal Rai has said that the suspicious parking of vehicles outside the residence of a political leader, the crackdown at a squatter holding centre and the events following the death of Ganesh Nepali all reflect the same pattern of governance.
He said these incidents indicate that the government is increasingly adopting a mindset of punishing citizens who raise questions. Referring to the security and management responsibilities that fall under the Home Minister's jurisdiction, Rai said the government had attempted to shift blame onto local authorities instead of accepting responsibility for apparent lapses. He also alleged that the tragic loss of a citizen's life was being used for political gain.
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Rai said that a majority government does not place itself above the Constitution and stressed that constitutional supremacy must be respected by all. He further claimed that the government was attempting to create an environment in which Prime Minister Balendra Shah could not be questioned. According to him, democracy is weakened when even questions raised within the limits of the Constitution and the law are treated as unacceptable.
He also said state institutions are gradually coming under the influence of informal centres of power, with the police administration increasingly acting on political instructions rather than institutional authority. Such a trend, he warned, risks erasing the distinction between the state and the ruling party and reflects what he described as the emergence of a "patrimonial system" of governance.
