Over two months after inaugurating the reconstruction process, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has strongly criticised the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) and the civil service for the numerous delays and false starts in the post-earthquake reconstruction process.

Oli’s criticism is an acknowledgement at the highest level of government that its reconstruction work has been exceedingly poor. Had the state even made the slightest progress in reconstruction, the prime minister would not have criticised the bureaucrats and would rather have chosen to tout his government’s success.

Furthermore, Oli’s statement is also an attempt to deflect blame. For, it is clear as daylight that the major political parties are primarily to blame for the dysfunctional state of the reconstruction process. And among the various parties, it is the ruling CPN-UML that is the most responsible.

After all, it was the UML that cynically kept delaying the passage of the reconstruction bill through Parliament when the Nepali Congress was in power. The UML leaders obstructed the bill on one pretext or the other, but it was always clear that their real reason for doing so was that they wanted firm control over the reconstruction process, and thought they could accomplish this only if the bill was passed when they were themselves leading the government.

After coming to power, the UML allowed the bill to go through Parliament, but took a long time to decide who should lead the NRA. Previously, the parties had agreed that Govinda Pokhrel, former head of the National Planning Commission (NPC), would head the NRA. He was widely regarded as a competent and experienced manager with integrity.

After Oli came to power, however, he decided to appoint Sushil Gyewali to the position, instead of Pokhrel. Gyewali was a little-known figure with almost no experience in running large administrative structures. It appears that his only credential for the job was that he was close to the UML party. It seems increasingly clear that the Oli government appointed him only because he would be flexible to the UML’s political demands.

This is not to say that the other parties are not to blame. Across the country, the major parties have formed cabals around local governments. These cabals decide how to channel local resources and usually do so in a corrupt and self-serving manner. As a result, earthquake survivors across the country have lost hope that the government will do anything for them.

Oli may have tried to deflect attention away from the failings of his party and the government by blaming the bureaucracy. But it is clear that such statements are not going to fool anyone. Instead, the prime minister should spend his energy summoning the political will to make the NRA an effective organisation that is not beholden to narrow, partisan interests.