Former NPC VCs against budget through ordinance

Former vice-chairpersons of the National Planning Commission (NPC) have issued a statement mentioning that their attention has been drawn to the fact that the House of Representatives had been dissolved at a time when it should be conducting the budget session.

According to Article 119 of the Constitution of Nepal, the government is supposed to announce the budget for the next fiscal year by Jestha 15 (which falls on May 29 this year). However, since the government has dissolved the House this could create another constitutional crisis, the former vice-chairpersons have stated. Moreover, they have mentioned that this is definitely going to have a major impact on the country’s economy.

The statement mentions that the House has been dissolved in an unexpected manner and the government is trying to run the country through ordinances and announce the budget through an ordinance too. They have mentioned that since there is no House at the moment there is no compulsion to announce the budget through the ordinance on Jestha 15 and it should not be done so.

The Supreme Court is hearing the writ petitions filed against the dissolution of the House of Representatives and the court will evaluate the writs and pass a verdict as per the country’s constitution, the statement adds.

The former vice-chairpersons have also stated that the government’s stand to announce a full budget despite stakeholders advising against it and including distributive programmes to influence the mid-term elections is totally against political ethics. They have also mentioned that taking excessive public loans and changing various tax criteria will also hit the country’s economy in the long run.

The statement has been signed by former vice-chairpersons Prithvi Raj Ligal, Jagadish Chandra Pokharel, Shankar Sharma, Pitambar Sharma, Dinesh Chandra Devkota, Deependra Bahadur Kshetry, Govinda Raj Pokharel, Min Bahadur Shrestha and Swarnim Wagle.