Purna Basnet, Chief of the Publicity Department of the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Nepal, has said that the tenure of former Prime Ministers KP Sharma Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ should be declared as a period of “lootocracy.”
Basnet described the period from 2015 (2072 BS), when the current constitution was promulgated, to 2025 (2082 BS) as the “dark decade of Nepali politics,” arguing that it should be recognized as an era dominated by corruption and systematic looting.
He alleged that during this 10-year period, inflation, poverty, unemployment, bad governance, corruption and commission-driven practices thrived under the leadership of these governments.
Basnet stated, “The national economy has long been trapped in a vicious cycle of trade deficit, foreign debt, underdevelopment, unemployment, dependency and inequality.”
He added that widespread public dissatisfaction has grown toward the government, political parties and leadership, creating a situation where the young generation sees no future in the country.
Basnet further claimed that major corruption scandals such as the Ncell tax scam, Widebody aircraft purchase case, Yeti Group controversy, Omni procurement scam, Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project irregularities and the gold smuggling case all took place under the rule of Oli, Deuba and Prachanda. He demanded an impartial investigation into all these cases and strict punishment for the guilty.
He concluded, “It is appropriate to give this period a distinct political identity as an era of lootocracy.”
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