What is the reaction of the private sector of the donation drive carried out by the Maoists?

The ‘forceful donation drive’ launched by the political parties has worsened the country’s overall business climate. We are already suffering from severe problems like power crisis, labor unrest and political instability. The business community has been paying donations to political parties for a long time. However, the method of collection is aggressive and forceful this time. CPN-Maoist has been intimidating businessmen for increasing the amount. This should be stopped by the government.

As the political parties start the donation drive time and again, what are the major implications of such moves?

The government should introduce laws to restrict donations. The donation terror should be stopped as soon as possible by the political parties. The donation that is given to the political parties should be transparent, otherwise this will only increase corruption. The unfair donation also beats the spirit of the private sector. So, there should be the provision of giving no more than Rs. 25 thousand in donation and if somebody gives more money, then that should be made illegal. That means the government should limit the donation money.

How much has the current political deadlock affected the economy?

Only from the political aspect, a country cannot develop. Political parties should form a political consensus on the economic agenda. The budget should not be hindered and the government should be allowed to bring a full budget. Now also, in the absence of a full budget, the government’s all development works have suffered and are near zero. So to improve the investment environment in the country, political parties should soon form a national consensus government and hold elections.

What should the government do to solve this severe load-shedding problem?

First there should be a high-level taskforce formed to review the country’s hydropower implementation approach and report to the Prime Minister. The taskforce should review all the recent recommendations for hydropower development, assess the progress and prepare an updated implementation program. Industries are likely to accept higher tariff than the inconvenience of load shedding and high cost of their own backup systems

(Based on Vaidya’s recent press conferences and press releases)