Members of Parliament (MPs) in Monday's House of Representatives (HoR) meeting strongly criticized the government over alleged alterations in tax rates and the Economic Bill, demanding a parliamentary investigation into Finance Minister Dr Swarnim Wagle. Opposition MPs stated that modifying a proposal outside parliament after it has already been tabled is a severe violation of legislative procedures.
Padma Aryal, deputy leader of the CPN (UML) parliamentary party, labeled the changes to the Economic Bill as highly critical, claiming that its page count was reduced from 460 to 450.
"A certain figure is presented when the bill is tabled in parliament, but a different figure is maintained after returning to the ministry. For what purpose and with what objective are such actions carried out?" Aryal questioned.
Similarly, Gyanendra Shahi, leader of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) parliamentary party, termed the manipulation of tax rates as an act of treason. He argued that the internal investigation being conducted by the Ministry of Finance is insufficient and insisted on a rigorous parliamentary inquiry on the Finance Minister directly.
Concurring Aryal and Shahi, Gopal Sharma of Nepali Communist Party (NCP) pointed out discrepancies between the Economic Bill tabled in parliament and the version uploaded to the Finance Ministry's website. He stressed that the government cannot bypass parliament to make arbitrary changes to a bill endorsed by the legislative body.
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