Opposition should wait for next election for mandate: Wagle

KATHMANDU: Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle has said that opposition parties will have to wait for the next election if they want to have their own “language, documents, and mandate” approved by the people.

Responding during Tuesday’s House of Representatives session on queries raised over the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the upcoming fiscal year, Minister Wagle said the government is moving forward based on the mandate given by voters to the election manifesto of the Swarnim Wagle and the ruling party.

He emphasized that the government’s policies and budget priorities are built upon what he described as the “transformation roadmap” presented before the elections, which he claimed had been endorsed by the electorate through the manifesto of the Rastriya Swatantra Party.

“The language, style, philosophy, and substance approved by the people are what we are implementing,” Wagle said in Parliament. “Before the elections, we had presented a manifesto with a hundred foundations for transformation. If that has been endorsed by the people, then the current policy and program, along with the budget principles, are based on those hundred governance reform roadmaps. If anyone wants to get their own documents approved, they may have to wait for the next election.”

He further stated that the government is advancing governance reforms in line with public expectations and the mandate received in the election, reinforcing that current fiscal priorities reflect the voters’ choices.