Kathmandu. Nepali Congress President Gagan Kumar Thapa has said that the government led by Balendra Shah is focused on who will be raised and when it should be focused on the economy. Speaking at a monitoring program organized by the opposition on Sunday, he claimed that the economy has been in a state of disarray due to the government.

“Money is piled up in the banks, loans are not mobilized, the banking system is under pressure, the money of the banks has not been collected,” he said. The price hike has skyrocketed. ”

He claimed that the employees and businessmen have become stubborn due to the activities of the government. He said that the industrialists and businessmen have started complaining that the economy cannot be taken forward in this situation.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the government’s working style, he said good governance could not be maintained by infringing on democracy, press freedom and citizens’ fundamental rights.

President Thapa said that some of the recent decisions taken by the government and the incidents in the country have raised serious questions on the working style of the government. He made it clear that any activities against democratic norms and values would not be acceptable to the Congress.

Stating that it was the responsibility of the opposition to make the government accountable and protect the basic values of democratic system, he said the NC would play the role of a strong opposition.

“The recent decisions taken by the government and the incidents that took place in the country have raised serious questions. The Nepali Congress will not remain silent if the government crosses its limits on democracy, fundamental rights of citizens and press freedom. We will play the role of a strong opposition to hold the government accountable and protect democratic norms and values,” Thapa said.

President Thapa said that the incident of the arrest of a journalist by mobilizing police in the media should be taken seriously. He said that the incident of the arrest of the journalist by entering the media house was a reminder of the interference in the media during the royal regime in the country.

According to him, the incidents of police mobilization and arrest of journalists in the media have raised questions on press freedom and democratic practices. He said that the different statements made by the police and the opinions made public by the Prime Minister’s Secretariat have created more confusion.

Thapa said that the incident should not be concluded by issuing a general statement and demanded the government to make its facts public. He said that there should be an impartial investigation into who ordered the arrest of the journalist, on the basis of which law and who was responsible.

“We don’t want a statement, we want results,” he said, “We need results with answers about why, who did it, how the law was applied and who is responsible.” ’

Stating that it was not enough to make a formal statement public on the incident, he stressed that the government should prove its accountability through identifying the responsible persons and taking necessary action.

Stating that the government’s rights should be guided by the law, Thapa said the tendency to put personal will and order above the law in the operation of the state would be dangerous for democracy.

He said that the state agencies are not institutions to follow the personal orders of any person or officials in the government. Stating that all the state bodies should be operated according to the constitution and laws under the rule of law, he said that arbitrary use of power is not acceptable.

“The idea that the rights of the government should be guided by the law and the will of the people sitting in the government is the law is not acceptable in a democracy. The state agencies are not institutions that follow anyone’s personal orders,” he said.

He said that the legal process, institutional dignity and respect of citizen’s rights should be mandatory in the government’s performance.

Thapa also questioned the role of the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). He said that the party should take credit for the good work done by the government but the tendency to avoid responsibility for controversial and wrong works would not be acceptable.

Stating that the political parties leading the government should take political responsibility of the government’s decisions and activities, he said the government’s works should not be linked to the party only as per their convenience.

“Another thing is that no party has the liberty to take credit for the good work done by the government but avoid responsibility for the wrong work. The party leading the government should take political responsibility for the government’s work,” Thapa said.

He made it clear that the political accountability of both the government’s successes and failures would be linked to the ruling party.

President Thapa also questioned the incident of police arresting government employees from their workplace and taking them to the Prime Minister’s Office.

He said that if the employees have made a mistake, their investigation and action should be taken as per the prevailing law and established institutional procedures. He said that it would not be appropriate to arrest the employees by mobilizing the police by violating the procedures followed by the state bodies and administrative structures.

Stating that no one is allowed to work above the law in the rule of law, Thapa stressed that every activity of the government should be in line with the rule of law and procedure.

Clarifying that the Nepali Congress disagreed with the arbitrariness seen in the government’s working style overall, he said the opposition would continuously vigilance and vigilance for the protection of democracy, press freedom, civil rights and rule of law.