Editorial
If the ruling party is to take precedence over the state, the prevailing absence of credibility promotes the theory that NCP party differences have only been postponed for the moment. Going by precedence, allotting the running of the government to the prime minister and leaving the running of the party to the other party chairman is easier said than done. Nepal is not unique in political parties being a conglomerate of various interests represented in cliques. But, that the groupings should so assert in the party as to paralyze governance gives the Nepali system an odour lacking confidence in a two-chairmen system where the prime minister to function must wean the opposite cliques away from the rival chairman to function. In this sense, Prime Minister K.P. Oli will only have bought time before the next round of differences. Perhaps where these differences will show up next is in the hasty assurance that government will ram through the American Million Challenge Corporation agreement in parliament.
In principle, even this agreement is suspect. Here are those who believe that questions regarding the MCC will be thinly papered over just as was done when passing the Mahakali treaty. A letter of intent assuring that differences will be settled after passing it through parliament is itself suspect. NCP champions against the MCC have already raised their voice against any attempt at ramrodding the agreement. As if this were not enough indication of the impermanence of the in-party agreement, what is worrisome is that the security questions raised by those doubting the intent of the MCC hold significance in the light of current strategic developments in the neighbourhood. Forget COVID 19 and its foreseeable impact on the security of the country given the widespread public anger against government fumbling. The economy and its impact on the populous is soon to manifest in public defiance. Estimates are that a massive injunction of some eighty billion rupees will be needed to cover the economic need and the deteriorating capability assessment of the Nepali system will make this a difficult target to reach. How a deprived society is to discipline itself from further COVID sacrifices is itself a security challenge.
More challenging perhaps is the security situation in the neighbourhood. American investment in Nepal of the MCC type at a time of Indo-Chinese strain is surely worth pondering. Leave aside the fact that BRI papers agreed upon with China remain pending. Add to this the echoes of sabre-rattling in the Indian media during a quid pro quo in China and the Himalayan region in total have surely been sensitized. And, then, there is the aggressive American policy to isolate China and drag in an Indian partnership however unwilling and the situation for Nepal becomes more serious. MCC or not, large scale Western investments in the non-government sector where budgetary allotments compare well with official allotments in the security sector make the challenge for Nepali security sector already precarious. Like it or not, under this system and current security environments the MCC is wrong timing in the least and the security sector should be more aware of this than our politicians of course.
People’s Review Print Edition
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