IANS
Nepal’s opposition party CPN-Maoist has decided to protest against Indian investment in the country’s hydropower projects, the party said yesterday.
Stating that India is interfering in some hydropower projects, the party said it has decided to submit letters of protest to district headquarters to ask the government to stop foreign investment in the hydropower projects and introduce in domestic investment,
Xinhua reported.
“There is foreign investment in Upper Karnali, Arun-3, so (the) party has decided to protest because these projects are not in the interest of our country,” CPN-Maoist chairman Mohan Baidya told reporters yesterday.
Upper Karnali and Arun-3 are two of the most controversial hydropower projects in Nepal since 1990. Baidya said his party would not tolerate foreign interference in the name of investment.
The CPN-Maoist party said Nepal will not be benefited if big hydropower projects are constructed through foreign investment. The party, which boycotted the November 19 national election, is opposing Indian interference in Nepal’s
internal affairs.
The party has also decided to launch a protest campaign across the country demanding a round-table conference of political parties for the promulgation of the new constitution.
“We have also decided to boycott the Constituent Assembly (CA) by-election which is going to take place on June 22,” Baidya said.
Nepal is currently facing serious power shortage, but the government has been unable to construct big power projects on its own. The country’s political parties are sharply divided on the issue of using foreign investment to build power plants.