MP salary increase 
Nepalis often have unrealistic hopes of their parliamentarians. They expect their elected representatives to solve their each and every problem—the long hours of load-shedding, shortage of drinking water, inflation, pollution, poverty, you name it—preferably overnight.

Their high hopes stem from the mistaken belief that the government has all the solutions.

As much as people want it, haste in governance is also unwarranted. The democratic process is by nature slow and deliberative. The pros and cons of every course of action have to be carefully weighed so that maximum number of people benefit, even as the potential harm is minimized. Thus when a proposed bill on an issue of national importance winds its way through the labyrinthine maze of the parliament—a process which can eat up weeks or months, even years in some cases—common folks have to wait for ‘due process’ to be completed. After all, isn’t it the legislature’s duty to cool hot passions and make informed decisions based on cold facts? What do we then make of the parliament’s unanimous decision on Sunday to fast-track a bill that proposes to increase the pay and perks of our MPs, even as they shelved the impeachment motion against CIAA Chief Lokman Singh Karki? 

Nepalis have drawn the only conclusion that any rational being would: Our MPs believe they are omnipotent and they don’t feel constrained by any authority. After the passage of the bill on Sunday, the total monthly pay packet of an MP will be worth at least Rs 80,000, with up to Rs 60,000 more available if they attend all parliamentary sessions as well as all parliamentary committee deliberations. This represents nearly 50 percent hike in their pay packet. Again, we are no Luddites. We understand that our MPs too have families to look after and other big bills to pay, in this most expensive place in the country. What we don’t understand is why they have to so blatantly cut corners if they genuinely believe they need a raise. (Who doesn’t?) The other question concerns the amount of raise. Average wages have been stagnant for years, at least if you are not a civil servant. Even as inflation is growing at double digits, in the past few years most folks have seen their salary increase in low single digit. In other words, in real terms, their salaries have been actually decreasing.  

Knowing that such across-the-board increase in their pay and perks could not have been justified had it become a point of debate in the parliament, our MPs decided to push it through in a hurry. This is precisely the kind of self-serving action that discredits the democratic process in the eyes of the electorate, and makes them hanker for an authoritarian like Mahendra or Putin or Trump. It would be foolish to believe that Nepal, a third-world country, is immune to the populist wave sweeping across the planet. True, Nepalis can sometimes have unrealistic expectations of their lawmakers. They also tend to be cynics. But instead of working to remove this cynicism our MPs seem determined to make common people even more suspicious of their personal conduct, making some even long for the ‘good old days’ of monarchy. 

 
• members of parliament
 
• salary increase
 
• undemocratic
 
• load-shedding problems