Rising campaign spending

Failure to ensure financial transparency will facilitate corruption and cronyism.

Rarely do we find politicians admitting to what is perceived to be the truth. A recent statement by Nepali Congress parliamentarian Shashank Koirala on rising campaign expenses was not exactly music to the Election Commission’s ears. He nonchalantly stated that he had spent Rs60 million during his last election campaign in 2017, a staggering jump from just Rs80,000, which he claims to have spent during the first Constituent Assembly election in 2008. Regardless of how one perceives his statement (especially the Election Commission), the rising cost of election campaigns is definitely a cause for concern.