In the Far Western Province, the UML has decided to register an amendment proposal, saying that the budget for 2008/09 brought by the government, in which it is a member, is incomplete.
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The UML parliamentary party in the Far West has decided to reject the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 083/84 brought by the government in which it is a partner and register an amendment proposal.
UML MP Dharmaraj Pathak said that the decision was made at a parliamentary party meeting held on Friday under the chairmanship of parliamentary party leader Rajendra Singh Rawal.
There is a joint government in the Far West led by the Congress including the UML. UML leads the ministries of physical infrastructure, land management, agriculture and cooperatives, and internal affairs and law. The Congress, along with the Chief Minister, leads the ministries of economic affairs, social development, industry, tourism, forests and environment.
Kamal Bahadur Shah is the Chief Minister, while Congress's Economic Affairs Minister Bikram Singh Dhami presented the budget in the provincial assembly on Monday midnight. MP Pathak said that the UML has decided to register an amendment proposal saying that the government has presented an incomplete budget in the provincial assembly, that it is against the principles of the appropriation bill, that there is no ministry-specific appropriation, and that the plan selection criteria have been violated.
In the budget speech presented by Economic Affairs Minister Dhami on Monday night, he mentioned that a total budget of 37.7 billion rupees has been brought for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget speech booklet made public just a day later mentions 37.7 billion rupees and 39.66 million rupees. Although the government was supposed to bring the Appropriation Act, Financial Act, Budget Speech, Expenditure Estimates, and Medium-Term Expenditure Framework on the same day it presented the budget, none of them were brought that day.
UML MPs had said that the ruling party UML was about to leave the government even during the budget preparation. While the tug-of-war over the division of power was going on during the budget preparation, the UML had been in separate discussions throughout the day to present the budget. After the division of power was agreed upon, the UML ministers participated in the Council of Ministers meeting to pass the budget only at night.
Meanwhile, the opposition party NCP held a press conference on Friday and announced that the budget would not be passed. NCP parliamentary party leader Khagraj Bhatta has warned that the current government's budget will not be passed under any circumstances.
Commenting on the budget made public by the provincial government, Bhatta said that it was not development-oriented but a means to prove the interests of those with access. He strongly objected to the non-transparent selection of projects contrary to the essence of budget preparation. Questioning the budget preparation process, he said that the plans were selected based on the setting.
Earlier in the fiscal year 081/82, during the joint government of the Maoists, UML and Unified Socialists, the budget presented by the Minister of Economic Affairs, UML's Surendra Bahadur Pal, in the provincial assembly was not passed and the government collapsed after the Maoists and Unified Socialists withdrew their support. That is why the budget of the Far West went to zero for three months.
