Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle's Statement Sparks Controversy in Parliament

Kathmandu. Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle's statement has become controversial during discussions in Parliament and parliamentary committees regarding the alteration of tax rates in the finance bill.

Opposition MPs became agitated after Finance Minister Wagle used threatening language targeting MPs while responding to questions raised against him, threatening to open files and publicize scandals.

• What did Wagle say?

In the Public Accounts Committee meeting held on Thursday morning, Finance Minister Wagle admitted that he had corrected the finance bill, claiming that it had been amended in the past as well.

However, instead of admitting his mistake, he tried to escape by saying that while 73 amendments were made previously, he only made 7 amendments. Instead, he warned of opening old files and said, '70 were done yesterday, only 6-7 minor errors have been made now.'

In the meeting of the House of Representatives held on Thursday evening, while responding to the discussion on the appropriation bill, Finance Minister Wagle refuted the corruption allegations against him. He claimed that the allegations of favoring certain businessmen by altering tax rates and causing a scam of 2 billion were baseless.

'If it is proven that I have committed even 2 rupees of wrongdoing or dishonesty, not 2 billion, I am ready to resign from the ministerial post and public life,' he said.

Stating that he could not betray the public within two months of coming with a strict agenda of good governance, he challenged the MPs who questioned him to maintain moral high ground.

'I wish the honorable members who point fingers at me the same moral high ground. We are not unaware of your scandals. Those will also be revealed,' Finance Minister Wagle warned in Parliament. He urged MPs to be fact-based before making personal accusations.

• Objections from MPs in the House of Representatives

MPs have raised objections to this issue in the House of Representatives meeting on Friday. They stated that there is a need to investigate this.

Speaking in a special time in the House of Representatives, Barsaman Pun of the Nepal Communist Party, who is also a former Finance Minister, demanded the formation of a parliamentary inquiry committee regarding the government's alteration of the finance bill along with the Finance Minister's statement. He demanded an investigation, calling the Finance Minister's mistakes economic crimes.

Former Minister Pun mentioned that although the opposition parties had given the benefit of the doubt before, the Finance Minister's threatening language made an inquiry committee inevitable.

He challenged that he himself was a Finance Minister and demanded an investigation into that period as well. He objected to diverting the issue by calling it old and new. He stated that the bill process goes through and is passed by the cabinet, and this is an insult to Parliament.

Pun recalled that budget-making processes are currently being followed based on the report submitted by the inquiry committee formed after the budget leak during Bharat Mohan Adhikari's tenure. He said that openly altering tax rates is objectionable.

Similarly, Hark Sampang, chairman of the Shram Sanskriti Party, also demanded an investigation into the allegations of altering tax rates. He stated that the investigation into the minister's allegations should be conducted by his own employees and that the report has not been made public, hence the investigation into both the current and past incidents should be conducted.

CPN-UML MP Guruprasad Baral said that the Finance Minister, using past incidents as an excuse, tried to manipulate tax rates by tampering with revenue rates and should not be allowed to escape. He also expressed readiness to investigate all past crimes and demanded the formation of a parliamentary inquiry committee to resolve the current tampering issue.

Similarly, Congress leader Arjun Narsingh KC also objected. He said that telling an MP who asks a question that 'I will open the file of your scandal' is against parliamentary decorum. He urged attention to the fact that Parliament is a place for debate and discussion.

Although MPs have demanded a parliamentary inquiry committee, they have continued the discussion.