Nepal parties hindering fight against graft, says Transparency

Undue influence by political parties has undermined the executive, judiciary, anti-corruption agencies and civil servants in Nepal, a global alliance against corruption said.

According to a report, 'Fighting Corruption in South Asia: Building Accountability', released by Transparency International (TI) Wednesday, interference by political parties in the Himalayan country has been impeding efforts to build the culture of transparency and integrity, Xinhua reported.

"Political parties are exerting influence over public sector and non-governmental groups to increase and maintain their grip on power," the report said.

"The political parties have not only been meddling the process to develop transparency but their interference has also obstructed to bring the culprits under the book," said Srirak Plipat, regional director for Asia Pacific of TI, while releasing the report in Kathmandu.

The TI Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 had ranked Nepal in 116th position out of 177 counties.

"Political parties' use of the executive as a tool to fulfill partisan interests has resulted in their failure to hold the executive accountable for its actions," added the report.

The TI had checked research from October 2012 to July 2013 to prepare the report.

"The absence of a central elected body for more than a year before the recent Constituent Assembly elections created a void that made it near impossible to hold politicians to account," Bishnu Bahadur KC, president of TI Nepal, said,

"But now is the time for the current government to walk the talk in combating corruption."

The report also found similar situation in other South Asian countries as in Nepal.

Besides Nepal, the report includes six South Asian countries, including Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Maldives and Pakistan. The report analysed how well 70 national institutions in these countries have been helping to stop corruption.

According to the report, the governments in corruption-stricken South Asia must allow anti-corruption agencies to investigate and prosecute corruption independently.

"In all six countries, corruption fighters in government and ordinary people alike who want to report and expose corruption face legal barriers, political opposition and harassment," the report added.