Kathmandu, October 1
Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader Bhishmaraj Angdembe has questioned the governance and parliamentary accountability of a government with a clear majority.
Speaking at Thursday’s meeting of the House of Representatives, he said a majority alone does not constitute the capacity to govern and urged the government to work in a way that maintains public trust.
Angdembe said although a majority can form a government, vision, dialogue, coordination, institutional respect, decision-making capacity and results are needed to retain public trust.
“The government has a clear majority in the House of Representatives. This is a major political asset. But a majority alone is not the capacity to govern,” he said. “A majority can form a government, but it cannot retain public trust. For that, vision, dialogue, coordination, institutional respect, decision-making capacity and results are needed.”
Angdembe said the government should move forward by taking all three tiers of government, Parliament, constitutional bodies, the administration, the private sector and civil society along with it, but said he had the impression that the government was trying to confine itself to a limited political circle.
“The government is supposed to run the state, not just its own side or a small group within its side,” he said. Angdembe also said the government should view Parliament not as a competitor but as an institution that partners with democracy.
He stressed the importance of parliamentary traditions under which the government informs Parliament about its decisions, policies and international commitments, holds dialogue and remains accountable.
Angdembe drew the government’s attention to the fact that Prime Minister Balen Shah did not inform Parliament before attending the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
He reminded the prime minister that attending the General Assembly after informing Parliament was not merely a tradition but also provided parliamentary legitimacy to the issues he would raise.
“Unfortunately, you did not inform Parliament, and I had expected you to inform Parliament after returning from the United Nations General Assembly, but that did not happen either,” he said. “If you try to break every tradition, one day you may be swept away by the force of those very traditions. Keep that in mind.”
