Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli's conducting of the cabinet meeting from Singapore on through video conferencing Monday has been questioned on the grounds of security.
PM Oli had handed over the reins to Deputy PM and Defense Minister Ishwore Pokharel before leaving for Singapore on Thursday.
The meeting moved forward after Pokharel informed PM Oli about the working schedule and received necessary instructions. Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gokul Baskota after the meeting said PM Oli issued necessary instructions on different ministry-wise topics during the meeting.
Conducting of the meeting in that manner has been widely criticized with leaders of ruling and opposition parties alike, as well as commoners pointing that the whole process could have been hacked compromising national secrecy and security.
It is ironic that the government, which makes the cabinet decisions public only after some days citing the issue of secrecy, has conducted the cabinet meeting from abroad using video conferencing leaving the whole process susceptible to domestic and international hackers.
RPP Chairman Kamal Thapa has called it a needless pretension. "Neither there is emergency in the country nor are there some works that need immediate attention. Public disenchantment toward the government is rising. Why is the PM, who is undergoing treatment, encouraged to such needless and pretentious action?" Thapa has tweeted mentioning the twitter handle of PM's chief political advisor Bishnu Rimal who has accompanied PM Oli to Singapore. "Dear Bishnu Rimal, at least you should have given the right advice."
Spokesperson of the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) Bishwo Prakash Sharma has also indirectly opposed the act. "It is a different matter that the communist party is in the government. But it is the government of all of us Nepalis. Will it be okay if the speaker were to operate the House or the chief justice the court from abroad pointing at the precedent of conducting the meeting of executive from abroad by amending the regulations for operation of the government?" Sharma has tweeted mentioning the twitter handle of PM Oli. "Do return home after speedy recovery and run the government for the full term as per the people's mandate. But please don't start the wrong practice allowing conducting of the cabinet meeting from abroad. My serious reservations in a polite manner."
The harshest criticism has come from standing committee member of the ruling CPN Bhim Rawal who has opined that cabinet meeting of a sovereign country cannot be conducted from abroad.
"I do not have knowledge of any PM or president of a sovereign country conducting a cabinet meeting while outside the geographical boundary of the country," Rawal stated. "Cabinet decisions are a matter of secrecy. They, therefore, are not made public until the government deems the need to make them public," he added implying that conducting cabinet meeting from abroad can compromise national security and secrecy.
Speaking in a talk show on Kantipur Television on Monday, he said he is still studying whether the PM of a sovereign country can conduct a cabinet meeting while outside the geographical boundary of the country or not.
"One cannot conduct cabinet meeting through video conferencing from abroad just because there is a means of technology," he argued. "Our country has the practice of naming an acting PM when the PM goes abroad and that acting PM conducts cabinet meetings."
He called the conducting of cabinet meeting through video conferencing wrong. "Some may say that traditions must be discontinued. If the traditions are wrong they must definitely be discontinued," he conceded. "It is a matter of study and investigation for me as to why the issue connected to sovereignty of the country has been taken so lightly," he said.
IT advisor to the PM Asgar Ali, however, has claimed that the meeting conducted through video conferencing was absolutely secure pointing that it was conducted using virtual private network (VPN). "The information is completely safe. No Nepali can show courage to conduct a sensitive meting like cabinet meeting by staying in a simple security shield. I request to not publicize it like a simple Skype call, Facebook live or Youtube streaming."
