freedom1 Forum conducted an interaction on parliamentary oversight on the budget process in Kathmandu on 17 March 2014. Parliamentarians, officials from the Parliament Secretariat, representatives from the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) and journalists working in the economic beat took part at the interaction.
Participants discussed the role of parliament in the budget process. The interaction focused on existing structure and practices of economic committee and public account committee (PAC) of the Parliament
and the Legislature-Parliament itself regarding the budget process. Speaking at the programme parliamentarian Kamala Panta from Nepali Congress party, Sher Dhan Rai from the CPN-UML
and Dr. Subodh Pokhrel from MPRF-D said parliament is very weak in Nepal, as it does not have
influence over the process of making budgetary decision. They said the parliament of Nepal in fact
has a ceremonial role. ”Members of parliament are very weak and few leaders have total power on budgetary decisions,” they stressed.
freedom1 Forum Chairperson Taranath Dahal pointed out the need for pre-budget statement at least a month before the submission of executive’s budget proposal to the parliament. This is the entry point towards establishing meaningful participation of parliamentarians in the budget process early from the stage of budget formulation. He added that our parliament needed a budget research office of experts to provide inputs to the parliamentarians on the regular basis. Distinct budget committee and budget Act are other important agenda for the reform in enhancing parliament’s oversight in the budget process.
Joint Secretary at the Parliamentary Secretariat, Krishna Hari Khadka, said the Secretariat does not have adequate human and technical resources to provide necessary information to the parliamentarians and enhance their capacity to take part in the budget discussions.
Similarly, Under Secretary at the Public Account Committee, Surendra Aryal, said that a weak institutional capacity of Secretariat, low level of understanding on budget issues among parliamentarians and no response from executives are three main problems underlying Nepal’s parliament. Aryal also raised a question on quality of audit report on the ground that PAC has decided many cases that such irregularities have no proofs.
Unlike him, Baburam Gautam, Spokesperson of OAG said that PAC did not take the OAG report seriously.
Journalists criticized on the the role of parliament, saying they do not actively take part in the budget discussion. They suggested appointing resourceful person as their assistant as a low cost option that contributes to making their presence meaningful at the parliament.
Parliamentarians said they lobby for early pre-budget statement and meaningfully take part in the budget discussion and requested all concerned to expedite such initiatives to make many of the parliamentarians aware of the essence of oversight in the budget process.