Koshi Province Budget Dispute Halts Parliamentary Proceedings

Biratnagar. The dispute over the budget for the upcoming financial year (2083/084) in Koshi Province has brought the parliamentary process to a complete halt. On Asar 9, the Minister of Economic Affairs and Planning, Bidur Kumar Lingthep, responded to the questions raised on the annual estimates of revenue and expenditure (budget) in the Provincial Assembly. He presented the proposal to consider the Appropriation Bill in the same meeting.

In the Provincial Assembly meeting on Asar 9, the Speaker of the Koshi Provincial Assembly, Ambar Bahadur Bisht, had scheduled discussions on the Appropriation Bill by ministries from Asar 11. 'I have allocated Asar 11, 16, 17, and 18, 2083 for collective discussions on various headings of the ministries,' said Speaker Bisht.

He had also publicized the schedule to discuss ministries such as Industry, Agriculture, Tourism, Health, and Social Development on Asar 11 and 16, and the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers' Office along with other ministries on Asar 18.

However, due to the dispute among the parties, the meeting scheduled for Asar 11 was postponed by posting a notice. Subsequently, the meetings scheduled for Asar 16 and 18 could not be held. The meetings have been repeatedly postponed, with a notice issued by Sudarshan Khadka, Secretary of the Provincial Assembly Secretariat, citing the government's request.

The Provincial Assembly meetings have been repeatedly postponed because MPs from the ruling Congress and UML expressed dissatisfaction, stating that the budget is unbalanced and focused on ministers. As a result, although discussions were supposed to start on Asar 11 in the Provincial Assembly meeting on the 9th, no resolution has been reached in ten days. Parties have been in discussions since early morning for the meeting scheduled for Friday. However, it is reported that an agreement has not yet been reached.

The most interesting aspect of the budget dispute has been the statement of Chief Minister Hikmat Kumar Karki himself. While MPs from the ruling party are saying that the budget is unbalanced and demanding that it be balanced, Chief Minister Karki himself has publicly stated that 'the budget is flawed'.

Before the Provincial Assembly meeting began on Thursday at the Provincial Assembly Secretariat, a meeting of the UML Parliamentary Party was held. Informing about the discussion in the party meeting, MP Hombahadur Thapa said, 'There is dissatisfaction with the budget, and the Chief Minister has also accepted this. There is a widespread complaint that a lot of the budget has been concentrated in only a few ministries and the Chief Minister's constituencies. We are now focused on how to rectify this flawed budget.'

According to Thapa, the Chief Minister had stated that he was ready to correct the budget and had even instructed the ministers to surrender the additional budget allocated to their respective areas. Furthermore, Chief Minister Karki had also stated that the budget would be allocated to areas that did not receive sufficient funding through financial transfer.

Intensive discussions are underway between the ruling coalition parties, Nepali Congress and CPN (UML), on how to correct the budget. Himal Karki, Deputy Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party, said that efforts are being made to move the budget forward in a legal manner. 'We agree on balancing the budget. Discussions are ongoing regarding the method by which ministers will return the budget accumulated in their constituencies to the consolidated fund and reallocate it based on need,' said Deputy Leader Karki.

According to him, discussions are underway on whether to adopt an amendment supplementary proposal or any other parliamentary method, as amending a budget that has already been presented in parliament would involve legal complexities. 'We have also spoken with the Chief Minister. He is also flexible. The meeting has been postponed only because the method of correcting the budget has not been agreed upon yet; an agreement will be reached soon,' Karki said.

Due to the budget dispute, the Koshi Provincial Assembly has not been able to advance its regular work even by Asar 18. With discussions on the ministry-wise budget not even starting, there is a growing risk that the budget, which is supposed to come into effect from Shrawan 1, will be thrown into uncertainty.

Chief Minister Karki is trying to appease the disgruntled MPs, while the MPs are seeking a 'guarantee' that the budget will be corrected. 'We have said that the budget must be corrected. It cannot be otherwise,' said Congress MP Bhupendra Rai. 'It cannot be done just by following past traditions. The government was formed from the streets. Here, the budget will be corrected from the sovereign parliament.'

One-sided and multi-sided meetings of Congress and UML are being held to resolve the budget dispute in the Koshi Provincial Assembly. 'Discussions were held within both parties in the morning; UML discussed within UML and Congress within Congress separately,' said Deputy Leader Himal Karki about the discussions on Thursday. 'After discussions within their respective parties, a joint discussion was held with the Chief Minister.'

Discussions between the two parties were held at the Chief Minister's Office, Chief Minister's residence, and the Provincial Assembly Secretariat. Such discussions are still ongoing. On Thursday morning, the party leader Uddhav Thapa also held separate discussions with some Congress MPs. However, leaders indicated that although the discussions were close to an agreement, no conclusion was reached.

Meanwhile, the main opposition party, the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN), has strongly objected to the Koshi Province government's budget. 'The budget is completely unbalanced, minister-centric, and brought with the intention of enriching cadres. By hoarding the budget in the constituencies of influential ministers and a few leaders, policy-level corruption has been encouraged,' stated a press release issued by Parliamentary Party Leader Indrabahadur Angbo on Thursday. 'In a situation where the Chief Minister himself has admitted his incompetence by stating in a public forum that the budget is flawed, any attempt to correct it in a closed room or through backdoor means is absolutely unacceptable. It must be corrected through parliamentary procedures and transparent processes from the rostrum of the parliament.'

The CPN has commented that the government's behavior is contrary to parliamentary dignity and democratic values.