Ministers and advisors of the 'non-partisan government' led by former Chief Justice Sushila Karki have started becoming active in political party activities. With ministers and advisors affiliated with political parties, questions of impartiality in the performance of the elected government are likely to arise.

Kulman Ghising, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Urban Development and Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation of the government formed with a 'mandate' to hold the House of Representatives elections on 21 Falgun, is the Deputy Chairman of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The agreement between the RSSS and the Ujjwala Nepal Party, of which Ghising is the patron, states that he will be the Deputy Chairman after the merger. Ghising had previously been participating in the activities of the Ujjwala Nepal Party.

Youth and Sports Minister Bablu Gupta had been active in the talks and discussions regarding the merger between the RSSS and Ujjwala Nepal. Both Ghising and Gupta are preparing to contest the House of Representatives elections directly from the RSSS. Minister Ghising claims that he is not formally affiliated with any party yet.

'The Prime Minister has given me some responsibilities and made me a minister. Those responsibilities will be fulfilled in a few days. After that, I plan to be fully active in politics as the elections are approaching,' he says, 'I am taking a decision on the issue that has been raised publicly in a few days.' 

Sports Minister Gupta says that one should not accuse someone of joining a party if he goes somewhere or meets someone. 'I am not involved in any party activities, nor have I taken membership of any party,' says Minister Gupta, 'If there is a situation where I have to join any party in the elections, I will resign from the government and leave.'

After the 7-point agreement between the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah on 13 Poush, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Jagadish Kharel wrote on social media, 'A new day, a new beginning, the dream of a beautiful and prosperous Nepal, the destination is being decided.' There is speculation that Kharel is also preparing to join the 'RSS' and contest the elections. Prime Minister Karki's public relations advisor Govinda Narayan Timalsina is on the closed list of proportional candidates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Minister for Communications Kharel said that he is not a member of any party and is working with the sole goal of holding elections.  

‘I myself was involved in meetings and discussions with the Prime Minister and the leaders of the major parties to hold election-focused discussions and create an election atmosphere, and positive initiatives in this regard were fruitful,’ he told Kantipur. ‘On the other hand, there was also an agreement between the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Mayor Balendra Shah. Both of these issues have added more excitement to the upcoming elections. As a member of the electoral cabinet, I have shared this happiness on social media.’

Minister Kharel said that neighbors/well-wishers are urging him to become a candidate in the upcoming elections, but he has not yet reached a conclusion on what to do. He also said that the government has not received official information about another minister, Ghising, being affiliated with any party.

‘The minister himself has not said anything about this,’ Kharel said, ‘We can only reach a conclusion after this issue is formalized in the Council of Ministers. Right now, everyone in the government is focused on holding elections in a fair, rigged and secure environment.’

Former administrator Khemraj Regmi says that it is ‘indecent’ and legally questionable for ministers and advisors of a ‘non-partisan government’ to be affiliated with a particular party. In such a situation, they should choose between a party and a government, he says.

‘The main character of a non-partisan government that holds elections is to work impartially, free from bias and affiliation with a particular party/group, and this government formed after the Gen-G movement should be even more careful about this,’ says former secretary Regmi. ‘This does not mean that one should not engage in party-specific politics, but it is wrong to be in an electoral government and be affiliated with a particular party. If you want to stay in the government, you have to be free from the party, if you want to join the party, you have to leave the government, if you want to stay in both, it means that the government is not impartial.'

Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki became the Prime Minister on 27 Bhadra after KP Sharma Oli resigned as Prime Minister due to pressure from the Gen-G movement. After becoming Prime Minister with a mandate to hold elections within 6 months, she made former administrators, former security officers, lawyers, professors, scientists and other people with backgrounds as ministers. After becoming a minister, Ghising and Timalsina joined a political party after becoming an advisor to the Prime Minister. 

Asset details of the Prime Minister and ministers still secret

The Prime Minister and ministers of the government formed on the basis of the Gen-G movement demanding control of corruption and good governance have not yet made their assets public. Even though questions have been raised about keeping their assets secret even after four months of the formation of the government, the Prime Minister and ministers have not shown any readiness to make the details public.

Section 50 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059 and Section 31 (a) of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Act, 2048 provide for the submission of asset details within 60 days of the date of appointment to a public position and within 60 days of the end of each fiscal year. There is no obligation in the law to make the submitted asset details public. In terms of good governance and transparency, the disclosure of asset details of persons holding public positions is viewed from a moral perspective. That is why it was customary to make the details public by taking a decision from the Council of Ministers.

Even before this, during the tenure of some governments, the asset details of the Prime Minister and ministers were not made public. After public questions started to arise, some ministers had made the details public. This time, no minister has come forward to make the asset details public.

The government formed on 10 August under the leadership of former Chief Justice Sushila Karki includes former Secretary Rameshwor Prasad Khanal as Minister of Finance and Federal Affairs and General Administration, former Executive Director of the Electricity Authority Kulman Ghising as Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Physical Infrastructure and Transport and Urban Development, and Advocate Om Prakash Aryal as Minister of Home Affairs.

Former Supreme Court Justice Anil Kumar Sinha as Minister of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Engineer Mahabir Pun as Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Agriculturist Madan Prasad Pariyar as Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Development, and Journalist Jagdish Kharel as Minister of Communication and Information Technology.

Former Secretary Sudha Gautam as Minister of Health and Population, Gen-G Youth Bablu Gupta as Minister of Youth and Sports, Advocate Kumar Innam as Minister of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, and former AIG of Nepal Police Rajendra Singh Bhandari as Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Security and Drinking Water. Researcher Madhav Prasad Chaulagain is the Minister for Forest and Environment, former Tourism Board employee Shraddha Shrestha is the Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens, and former Nepali Army Lieutenant General Balananda Sharma is the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The website of the Prime Minister's Office states that the asset details of 12 ministers have been received. Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Kumar Ingham, Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security Rajendra Singh Bhandari and Minister for Foreign Affairs Balananda Sharma are yet to submit their asset details. It has not been 60 days since they were appointed.

Khemraj Regmi, former president of Transparency International Nepal, says that it is necessary to make asset details public for transparency. 'A government formed on the foundation of the movement for good governance should make it public,' he says, who is also a former secretary. 'They are the ones who raise questions when others do not make their asset details public. Those in office should show an example of transparency in practice rather than speech.'

Earlier, the KP Sharma Oli-led government was widely criticized for not making the asset details of the Prime Minister and ministers public. Before that, the government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba also did not make the asset details public. The government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal did make the asset details public on 8 Jestha 2081.

Madan Krishna Sharma, President of Transparency International Nepal, says that it is not appropriate for a civil government to behave like others and that it should maintain transparency itself. ‘The mandate of the current government is to maintain good governance,’ he says.

Dipesh Ghimire, Associate Professor at Tribhuvan University, says that ministers should not keep asset details secret. He says that ministers should spontaneously make their asset details public to prove that they are transparent in order to maintain the trust of the citizens. ‘A government formed on the basis of good governance, and a government with a former Chief Justice and former judges involved in it, should not hide asset details,’ says Ghimire.

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Jagdish Kharel says that the asset details have been submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office. He did not respond to the possibility of making the asset details public on his own. "The Prime Minister and ministers have submitted the details within 60 days as per the law," he says.