KATHMANDU: Forty members of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Minicipal Council are urging Mayor Balen Shah to convene a council meeting as soon as possible.
An informal meeting of the municipal coincil on Monday, attended by all but Mayor Shah himself, underscored the growing frustration over the prolonged absence of formal sessions.
The 41-member executive council includes representatives from the Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), Maoist Centre, CPN (Unified Socialist), and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). Rosina Shrestha, elected from Ward No. 16 under the RSP, also participated in the informal gathering, playing a role in escalating pressure on Mayor Shah.
Six-Month Standoff and Budget Woes
According to Sub-section 1 of Section 17 of the Local Government Operation Act 2017, “the Executive Council meeting shall be held at least once a month.”
However, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s executive council has not met since December 26.
“With the Executive Council meeting not taking place for six months when it should convene at least once a month, the metropolitan city’s development projects and policy decisions have been in limbo,” stated spokesperson Nabin Manandhar. “Local levels are legally bound to present their budget by June 30. However, due to the long delay in Executive Council meetings, the metropolitan city has not been able to discuss budget priorities for the fiscal year 2025/26 in the council.”
Manandhar further explained that the Local Government Operation Act stipulates that the mayor calls and presides over both assembly and executive council meetings. “But since the mayor hasn’t called the meeting, we’ve pressed him due to the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming fiscal year’s budget,” he added.
The lack of council meetings, coupled with the mayor’s failure to call a meeting of the leadership boundary committee, has led to uncertainty regarding the nature and size of the upcoming budget.
Furthermore, with the monsoon season approaching, an increase in disaster-related incidents is anticipated, making the current lack of executive meetings a cause for additional concern among elected representatives.
“Work has been obstructed because the elected representatives, who should be accountable to the public, are not being responsive. That’s why we’ve put pressure to call a meeting,” one executive member lamented. “Our mayor is not found when the public looks for him, nor when elected representatives look for him. We only know he’s around by looking at his social media statuses. This is unfortunate for us.”
Recent reports suggest that Mayor Shah has been displeased after Chief Administrative Officer Saroj Guragain sought clarification from the city police chief.
In response, the mayor reportedly retaliated by demanding clarification from spokesperson Nabin Manandhar for allegedly speaking out of turn.
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