Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has not disclosed the property details of himself and his ministers despite increased pressure from Parliament and civil society for good governance and transparency. There is a provision that a person holding a public position must submit a statement of assets within two months, while it is a practice for members of the Council of Ministers to make it public.

Apart from Raghuji Pant, who was appointed as Education Minister on May 10 and Minister of State for Energy Kham Bahadur Garbuja, who was sworn in on Sunday, the members of the Council of Ministers have submitted their property details to the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Office by last August.

The Prime Minister's Office website mentions that the property details have been received, but the details are hidden. Citizens have been expressing dissatisfaction with the government for not being able to maintain good governance. The opposition parties in the parliament are constantly raising demands. Instead of activating the permanent mechanisms of the state including the Authority, a Good Governance Commission was also formed on May 8 under the leadership of the Prime Minister. However, even the normal practices for good governance are not followed.

- After the election of 048, the Girija Prasad Koirala-led government made it a practice to publish the property details of the prime minister and ministers within 15 days of their inauguration.

– In 066, the government led by Madhav Kumar Nepal released the property details including bank accounts.

– After the Khilraj Regmi-led government was formed in 069, the process of publicizing property details was broken.

- In 074, the property details of the prime minister and ministers during the Oli government were made public, the then foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali made the details public even after he left office.

- The government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, who became the prime minister in 078, had not released the details, while the cabinet led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who became the prime minister in 079, had released the details only in June 081.

Government spokesperson Prithvisubba Gurung dismissed the question of the prime minister's and ministers' property details not being made public as a 'stale question'. "Don't ask why the property details have not been made public," says Gurung, "It is written on the website of the Prime Minister's Office that the details have been submitted, ask the same office why they have not been made public." "Ministers have to explain, everyone has already explained," he says, "It is under the jurisdiction of the relevant body to make it public, I don't understand why it has not been made public." 

A minister says that the prime minister does not want to make public the property details submitted to the cabinet office. "We have a legal obligation to submit it to the office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers within two months, we have already submitted it before that," says the minister.

UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel, who is also a member of the high-level political mechanism that supports the government, defends the government for not disclosing the property details. "Because there is a tendency to exaggerate wealth, the details may not have been made public because there is a tendency to make unnecessary comments about individuals," he says. "Rather than appreciating that it is a good work, there is a group that ridicules it. The law has made it compulsory to submit property details, if you don't do it, you will be punished, but the law does not force you to make it public or not," he says.

Article 50 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 2059 provides that a person holding a public office must submit the details of his or her family's assets to the designated authorities and authorities within 60 days of holding such office. In the gazette published on June 20, 2075, it is mentioned that the President must submit the property statement to the Office of the President and the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister, Minister of State and Assistant Minister to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.

Ex-Chief Secretary Bimal Koirala thinks that it is wrong from the point of view of good governance not to publish the property details as it is not forced by law. "Political leadership should be morally correct. In countries with a democratic system, it is customary for those who hold public positions to publicize my property details like this and when I leave,'' says Koirala.

Koirala says that after the Khilraj Regmi-led government came to power, the work of submitting property details has been stopped. "After that, no one is considering it as an obligation," he says, "This is a big moral question for the political leadership." Must appear morally correct. Here, the practice of not complying until the provision of punishment for those who do not comply is put in the law, this is a fatal trend for good governance.'

According to former Chief Secretary Koirala, the Girija Prasad Koirala-led government formed after the 048 election had made it a practice to publish the property details of the prime minister and ministers within 15 days of their inauguration. In 074, during the Oli government, it was decided to publish the property details of the Prime Minister and Minister. Pradeep Gyawali, who was the Minister of Foreign Affairs at that time, disclosed his assets even after leaving the post.