Govt has turned President's Office into new palace: Minendra Rijal

Setopati

2019-01-13 15:48:45

Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Minendra Rijal has accused the government of turning the President's Office into a new palace. He claimed the government is making the President's Office outdo the old palace in extravagance by allocating Rs 180 million for procurement of cars, and Rs 1.50 billion for a chopper. "The people want to provide facilities to the president in proportion to their financial state and that of Nepal, and not turn the President's Office into a new palace," Rijal said during the meeting of House of Representatives (HoR) on Sunday. "The institution and the republic do not become strong by providing extravagant facilities for indulgence." He also accused Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli of trying to bring the intellectuals down to their knees, threatening employees, attacking press freedom, insulting those staging a peaceful protest, and undermining constitutional bodies. "Democracy does not become strong by avoiding the parliament," Rijal pointed. He stated that federalism does not become strong by false claims of the PM that it has been made stronger. "You don't form commission, don't activate the institution for inter-provincial coordination, and then claim to have made federalism stronged," he said. "Dear PM, you must make the institutions stronger." He claimed that PM Oli provided wrong facts to the House during his address last week and took a swipe at the Finance Ministry for not 'teaching' the correct facts to the PM. Pointing that the actual state of the country may not be visible to PM Oli from the depths of Kathmandu Valley, he sarcastically advised PM Oli to climb the view tower the government plans to build in Jhapa to see the sorry state of the country. "The country is not in the pink like you claim. The stain of Nirmala Panta's murder would be visible even from the top of the view tower in Jhapa."

Published Date: 2019-01-13 15:48:45

Recommendations