Culture of opposition to budget backfires UCPN-Maoist

The UCPN-Maoist's frequent obstruction to budget in the past years has now come to haunt it, as the incumbent government is finding it hard to sell the idea of importance of timely budget and its implications on the economy.
"There should be a fixed date to announce the budget every year irrespective to whichever party is in the government," said caretaker finance minister Barshaman Pun, who opined that the budget should not be mixed with the politics.
"Governments come and go, but the budget should be announced on time to give relief to the people," he said.

But his own party — UCPN-Maoist — has a history of mixing up politics and economy since the Constituent Assembly elections in 2008. After the CA election, the UCPN-Maoist emerged as the largest party and created hurdles for successive governments in bringing the budget on time.
It did not let the then finance minister Ram Sharan Mahat bring a full-fledged budget forcing him to bring a special budget in July 2008. Later when Baburam Bhattarai as a finance minister brought full-fledged budget in September 2008. Later in 2010, UCPN-Maoist even manhandled the then finance minister, Surendra Pandey, inside the Parliament to stop timely budget.
Had the UCPN-Maoist shown committed to the norms of parliamentary democracy and respected rights of the people, today Pun should not have to lobby for the timely budget as it is key to not only for regular expenses but also for the development of the country that has been victimised in the political tug-of-war pushing the country backwards to more uncertain future that has force the private sector — the engine of growth — to wait and watch.
Though, the budget is a powerful instrument at the disposal of the state with the power and clout to influence the deliveries that are committed in the constitution, laws, perspective and periodic national and sectoral plans, and manifestos of the political parties, it has been failing the people due to also regular changes in the governments that lacked ownership.
In the absence of Parliament, there is no doubt the 62nd budget of the country will be populist and serve UCPN-M's political interests, blame former finance minister of CPN-UML Surendra Pandey.
"The budgetary system has also become a victim of financial indiscipline, myopic vision and inconsistency, as well as donor driven priorities, victimising the nation at large and misusing the people's hard earned money," another former finance minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat of NC said.
"There will be no monitoring of the government expenses in the absence of Parliament," he said, adding that CIAA secretary Bhagwati Kafle is also retiring in a couple of months, which means the anti-graft body would not be able to act against any financial misuse by the government.
"The development budget will also be spent arbitrarily in the last month of the current fiscal year without productivity, as the incumbent government has lifted the budgetary spending ceiling — 40 per cent in the last three months – to make itself comfortable, which would eventually increase financial indiscipline due to lack of cost-benefit and risk-return analysis,” he added.