It’s not a good sign for people to start questioning a government’s anti-corruption credentials barely a month after its formation. Yet they have choice but to do so with the government seemingly intent on giving a free pass to many corrupt officials and leaders. As per a bill currently under discussion in the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of Parliament, a corruption case should be filed within five years of the knowledge of such an instance of corruption. (It is unclear who should have such knowledge.) Similarly, if an individual had been involved in corruption while being in a public position and could not be punished at the time, they too should be punished within five years of retirement. In fact, the bill was first registered by the then KP Sharma Oli government on January 20, 2020. It was passed and sent to Parliament on April 10, 2023. With Oli back in power, the bill, which is supposed to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059 (2002 AD) has now again come to the centrestage.

The bill presented by the Oli government seems to have been inspired by a “forgive and forget” approach to corruption. It is so indefensible that even the MPs from the ruling parties are struggling to do it. Lawmakers of the opposition Maoist Centre and Rastriya Swatantra Party have also rightly pointed out that the deadline of five years is regressive. As it stands, the UML is the sole party in defense of the bill. If the other parties, both ruling and opposition, stick to their guns, the government will have to back down, and it should. For there is absolutely no rhyme or reason for the five-year cap; and were such a cap to be imposed, countless current and former politicians and bureaucrats who are soaked in corruption would walk scot-free.

Nepal already ranks an alarming 108 of the 180 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2023—below fellow South Asian countries Bhutan (26th), the Maldives (93rd) and India (93rd). Moreover, the conviction rate in corruption cases in 2021-22 stood at just 38.5 percent. If there is one thing the government should do at this time, it is to bring policies to reduce corruption and punish the corrupt with due diligence. However, it seems to want to take the opposite route.

From instances of money laundering to land grabbing, selling diplomatic passports to turning citizens into refugees, corruption is widespread in Nepal. No political party is free from corruption, which is also exemplified by recent investigations into high-level politicians in the Lalita Niwas land grab scam, the gold smuggling scams, and the Bhutanese refugee scam. There is ample evidence of how no corrupt country can steadily move forward on the path of peace and prosperity. This is why, fighting corruption should be the top agenda of all big and small political parties that purport to work in national interest. Those who don’t do so deserve to be singled out and punished for doing irreparable harm to their country.