Balen government moves to open the books on 34 years of power and wealth
Summary
The Balendra Shah-led government in Nepal has initiated a 100-day governance reform plan, focusing on scrutinizing assets of senior political officials and civil servants spanning 34 years since 1991 to combat corruption.
Key Points
- The Balendra Shah government has approved a 100-point governance reform agenda prioritizing the scrutiny of assets held by senior political figures and senior civil servants since 1991.
- An empowered asset investigation committee will be formed under the Prime Minister's office to investigate officials' assets in two phases covering 2005/06 to 2025/26 and 1991/92 to 2005/06 respectively.
- The initiative responds to widespread public demand and election pledges from the Rastriya Swatantra Party and Nepali Congress to combat corruption and ill-gotten wealth accumulation.
- The government faces challenges in the investigation due to the reliance on paper records from earlier decades but experts note that recent digital records should simplify the first phase of scrutiny.
