KATHMANDU, MARCH 4

Chairperson of CPN-Maoist Centre Pushpa Kamal Dahal defended his decision to support parliamentary ratification of the Millennium Challenge Corporation deal at the party's Central Committee meeting.

According to Dahal, had the CPN-MC not backed the ratification of the MCC deal, it could have led to dissolution of the coalition government at both the central and provincial levels.

This could also have derailed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

CPN-MC leader Ganesh Shah said Dahal told the CC meeting that if the NC formed another coalition government with the CPN- UML, Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota could also have lost his job. The main opposition CPN-UML has been saying it will end its obstruction in the Parliament only if Sapkota confirms the expulsion of 14 UML lawmakers or resigns from his post.

Defending his decision to pass the MCC deal with 12 interpretive declarations, Dahal said, 'The interpretive declaration is not a panacea, but we have to remember that a drowning man will clutch at a straw.' Dahal said he favoured passing the 12-point interpretive declaration as lawyers had suggested it could be a middle way to deal with the issue.

CPN-MC leader Dev Prasad Gurung also confirmed Dahal had told the meeting that by agreeing to pass the MCC deal with interpretive declarations, he chose the middle path.

Dahal also said that those people, who were involved in the MCC deal, should have paid close attention to the deal's contents prior to signing it, Gurung quoted Dahal as telling the meeting, 'Once you sign the deal, you cannot easily scrap it,'

Dahal also said political parties did not have one voice on the idea of amending the MCC deal before securing parliamentary ratification of the deal.

CPN-MC leader Naryan Kaji Shrestha opposed the party's decision to back the MCC deal. According Gurung, Shrestha commented on the major points of the deal, which he thought were against Nepal's interests.

Gurung, however, said that both Dahal and Shrestha agreed that there was no alternative to party unity and they should manage their differences within the democratic framework.

Gurung said the party had a tradition of debating minority views and allowing party dissidents to voice their disagreements.

The CPN-MC postponed its Central Committee meeting till Sunday. In the next meeting it will discuss allotment of responsibilities to party leaders.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 5, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.