KATHMANDU, May 26: A total of 39 members of the Municipal Executive of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) have urged Mayor Balen Shah to convene an executive meeting as soon as possible. The request was made during an informal meeting held earlier today.
Out of the 40 members in the executive, all were present except for Mayor Shah. The executive includes representatives from the Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), Maoist Centre, Unified Socialist, and Rastriya Swatantra Party.
Although Clause 17, Sub-clause 1 of the Local Government Operation Act, 2017 states that ‘The executive meeting shall be held at least once a month,’ the KMC's executive meeting has not been held since January (Poush).
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“The executive meeting, which is legally required to be held at least once a month, has not been conducted for almost six months, resulting in uncertainty over development works and policy decisions within the metropolis,” said Spokesperson Nabin Manandhar. “The local level is legally obligated to present the budget by June 29.”
However, due to the long absence of executive meetings, the metropolis has not been able to hold discussions within the executive regarding the budget priorities for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025/26. The Local Government Operation Act clearly states that the mayor shall call and chair the meetings of the assembly and the executive. “But since the mayor has not called the meeting, uncertainty has arisen over whether the budget for the upcoming FY will be presented at all, which is why we have pressed the mayor,” they said.
The failure to convene even a meeting of the boundary determination committee led by the mayor has further created confusion regarding the size and nature of the budget. Alongside this, disaster incidents are also certain to increase with the onset of the monsoon. In such a critical time, the lack of executive meetings has only added to the uncertainty.
Local representatives have, furthermore, complained that the situation has worsened due to Mayor Shah’s indifference.
“When elected officials, who are supposed to be accountable to the public, themselves fail to act responsibly, it creates obstacles in delivering public services,” said one executive member. “Even when the public looks for our mayor, he cannot be found, and even we, as elected representatives, cannot reach him. Only after seeing his posts on social media do we realize that he is still around. This is unfortunate.”
