KATHMANDU: CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has said his party was compelled to pass the MCC agreement with an interpretative declaration to prevent its unconditional endorsement, which posed a serious risk.

Speaking at the launch of Lilamani Pokharel’s book “MCC in Nepal”, Prachanda stated that during the CPN government, he had formed a task force which concluded MCC should not be passed as-is. Despite their efforts, the Nepali Congress was adamant on passing it without amendments, he said.

“We even proposed UML to lead the government if they helped block unconditional approval,” Prachanda claimed. However, with both Congress and UML firmly in favor, the Maoist Centre was left with no choice but to push for an interpretative declaration.

He stressed that without this intervention, the MCC would have been endorsed in its original form, undermining Nepal’s sovereignty.