BIRGUNJ, FEBRUARY 11

CPN-Unified Socialist Chairperson Madhav Kumar Nepal has said there was no way the American assistance package Millennium Challenge Corporation would be ratified by the Parliament without any amendment.

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Nepali Congress leaders who spoke at the party’s executive committee meeting on Thursday underlined the need for securing parliamentary ratification of Millennium Challenge Corporation Nepal Compact under which the US will grant Nepal $500 million for infrastructure development.

NC advised to move MCC compact for ratification

Political parties have intensified their inter- and intra-party consultations over the Millennium Challenge Corporation Nepal compact in the past few days, but a common stand on it continues to be ever elusive for the ruling alliance.

Fissure in ruling alliance over MCC compact

Speaking at a press conference at Parsa's Birgunj today, the ruling party leader argued that there was still much to study about the MCC and many provisions to amend. "There are still many details we need to be clear about regarding the project, and as the public too are against the project, we aren't ready for ratifying it without being clear about the project ourselves and ignoring the overwhelming pubic outcry," the leader said.

Further, Nepal clarified that there were seven major concerns requiring clarification regarding the American grant project.

"We need be clear about whether or not MCC is part of Indo-Pacific Strategy or any American security strategy, whether or not the pact involves the US military and whether Nepal will have sovereign right over the development works carried out under this project and have right to audit the project," said the former prime minister. "Once we get answers to these queries, we will discuss and decide what to do regarding this project," he added.

Asked how he would respond to CPN-UML's remark that he would be to blame squarely if the project was to be withdrawn, Nepal said it was not important for him to respond to such baseless accusation levelled by a party whose supremo whose ideology, culture and behaviour is all but communist and who bore a tag of 'traitor' himself.

"Clearly, KP Oli isn't a man with communist ideology, culture and behaviour.

So I don't think I need to respond to the allegation coming from people like him," he said.

On a different note, Nepal claimed that his party would emerge as the largest party in the land from the upcoming election. "We don't have much time to expand our organisation at hand now, but we will do it as the local elections have been announced," he said.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 12, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.