May 28: Nine former vice chairpersons of the National Planning Commission (NPC) say that there is no compulsion at all for the government to bring the budget for coming fiscal year within May 29 at a time when the House of Representatives (HoR) is dissolved.

Issuing a press statement on Thursday (May 27), they rejected the idea of full-fledged budget arguing that such budget is likely to influence the upcoming election. They also noted that the government’s move to collect excessive public debt and change of tax rate were serious breach of political moral principal. The former vice chairs warned that the move of the government is likely to push the country’s economy towards instability and therefore urged the government to become serious about this issue.

They also raised concern regarding the unexpected dissolution of the lower house at a time when it should have held the budget session.

“This has created a constitutional crisis and uncertainty. In such situation, it is certain that the country’s economy will be pushed backward,” reads the statement.
They further reminded that the case relating to the dissolution of HoR is sub judice at the Supreme Court.

According to the former vice chairmen of NPC, the unexpected dissolution of HoR is a pre-planned design to rule the country and issue budget through ordinance.

Those issuing the statement include Dr Prithvi Raj Ligal, Dr Jagdish Chandra Pokhrel, Dr Shankar Sharma, Dr Pitambar Sharma, Dr Dinesh Chandra Devkota, Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri, Dr Govinda Raj Pokhrel, Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha and Dr Swarnim Wagle.