2 days Ago By Bal Krishna Sah
Pushpa Kamal Dahal, chairperson of the CPN-Maoist Centre, has agreed to establish a robust commission to investigate assets as proposed by Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa. Thapa proposed at today's State Administration Committee meeting that if the current law is insufficient to investigate corruption and money laundering, another law should be passed. He also proposed that another powerful commission be established.
He suggested bringing together the top leaders of major parties and discussing them throughout the day. Recalling the context of the leaders accusing each other of being involved in various scandals, he stated that people were claiming that they would open the cantonment file and others that of Giri Bandhu, which is causing confusion among the people. Thapa said that it was necessary to gather the top leaders of major parties and discuss the issue.
He stated, "the former prime minister is here, and so is the current prime minister. Let us debate in this committee which corruption scandals should be investigated." He further said, "There is a growing trend of leaders-both inside and outside of government-threatening to reveal corruption files.
The public is tired of hearing about these alleged files. We should rather concentrate on how constitutional agencies, such as the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), handle these cases." Dahal said that Gagan Thapa's remarks were serious and requested more time to express his views.
"What Gagan _ji_ said is a serious matter," he said. "Integrity and intention are crucial. It will go in a good direction if the intention is right and sincere.
However, it would be appropriate to sit and discuss with the key players." Meanwhile, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has stated that the Shera Durbar case will be investigated thoroughly. During a State Affairs and Good Governance Committee meeting on Thursday, he made this statement in response to former prime minister Dahal.
"We will return the property that was improperly transferred to the company. Be prepared to express gratitude to the government, leader Dahal," he said. Earlier, Dahal had challenged the government to bring the land of Shera Durbar in Nuwakot under its authority.
Dahal, who visited Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's home district Jhapa on Monday, claimed that a negative narrative and propaganda are being spread by tarnishing the reputation of someone who left the CPN-MC more than a decade ago. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) recommended on last Friday that 163 ropani 13 annas of Shera Durbar in Nuwakot, also known as Prithivi Narayan Shah's winter palace, be confiscated from a private company and handed over to the government. According to reports, Bikesh Shrestha, a former CPN-MC committee member and personal assistant to then-Prime Minister Dahal, purchased all of the shares under the name Annapurna Farming.
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