KATHMANDU: Prime Minister K P Oli has said that the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), which has become a controversial issue of late, will be endorsed from the current session of the Parliament.
“So far as MCC is concerned, there should have been speculations about how the things might be interpreted prior to the agreement,” PM Oli said, “Unfortunately, we signed an agreement and later when it comes to its ratification or its implementation, we started the discussion and study about it,” he told editors at his official residence in Baluwatar recently.
He said that the preliminary discussions should be executed with sincerity and generally are executed as such discussions are made by the experts on the issues.
“Nowhere in the world are the agreements given to the public for discussion and then ratified,” he said commenting on the rationale that everyone has the right to read the agreement before the state signs them.
“Experts are sent for the discussion on such issues, and those experts handle the issues assigned to them. The documents presented for ratification go through various procedures,” he added.
PM Oli also said that the same procedure was executed in the case of MCC as well.
The MCC, a 500-million US dollar project, was approached from Nepal’s side long before. Citing that Nepal did not meet the requirements deemed necessary to make a country eligible to get the grant, Nepal was not considered for the project earlier.
Lately, after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) when the country paved room for a new federal system, the country bettered everything in the indicators and managed to bag the project. After consultations at various levels, the compact was signed in September 2017.
PM Oli made it clear that he is aware of the concerns about MCC relating it with Indo-Pacific Strategy. “Some friends say MCC is under Indo-Pacific policy,” PM Oli added citing each nation can have their own strategy, “We are aware that the USA has a global strategy and global politics; why Indo Pacific Strategy only?”
He took it normal for super-power nation to have some interest in expanding its strategy. “The US is also regarded as the most powerful and the wealthiest nation of the world which has its military camps in various parts of the world,” the PM said. “Logics don’t work, laws don’t prevail for it,” he added.
PM Oli took it natural for such a superpower to have some strategy. “Superpower nations may have a global or regional strategy, we have to look at our agreement: what our agreement is about and what it actually says.”
“We should look at the MCC Compact and should care about it,” he said, “MCC Compact is an agreement for 5 years, we should complete the project within the stipulated timeframe, otherwise the project will be halted at where it reaches then, but the fund meant for it collapses.”
PM Oli seems anxious that the urgency of the project is not realized by many. “We generate electricity, we are the richest in terms of the water resources. We need transmission lines. That needs a lot of money, the USA has agreed to help us with transmission lines which will go from here to Gorakhpur.”
He also shed light on how India was linked with the project. As the line has to be extended up to Gorakhpur, India seeking India’s consent on the issue is natural. “As the transmission line is meant to sell electricity to and via India, India is already connected in the project,” he said, “As the agreement with India is already done, now the remaining things like contributing to the alignment, cooperating in forest and road clearance, etc.”
Prime Minister Oli further stated that most of the works in this regard are in process. “We have met most of the criteria, we have met the requirements, what else can be the conditions for accepting the loan. The USA has some conditions like democracy, transparency, he claimed.
Oli regarded this as usual to seek compliance with democracy, transparency and against human rights.
“No country supports dictators or corrupted leaders or individuals. American conditions are for the safeguard of democracy and democratic rights.”
Further clarifying the issue, he said that in 2012, the US said Nepal met the criteria. “After knowing that we are eligible, we intensified the talks and in 2017 we managed to sign an agreement< he maintained.
“Actually the agreement was signed by the government which was formed dismantling my government, yet, I should say good to good, I believe, the agreement is good,” the PM added, “I read the text, I have read it and I say it’s good, it should be ratified and it will be ratified too.”
Speaking about MCC’s military affiliation, PM Oli made it clear that the fund meant for MCC cannot be transferred to any other projects like the military, among others. “We have specified our project and mentioned which part of the road network and which sector of transmission lines are to be constructed under the MCC project,” the Prime Minister said, “So, there is nothing negative in it. Hence, we will ratify MCC, MCC will be ratified from this session.”
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