“The PM may make an official request in this regard as early as Friday morning,” Finance Minister Barshaman Pun told journalists at his office on Thursday.[break]
The call is being made as Nepal is rushing to meet the deadline set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-money laundering body, for endorsement of the Extradition Ordinance, the Mutual Cooperation Ordinance and the Ordinance on Control of Organized Crime.
If Nepal is not able to promulgate these ordinances by June 22, when the five-day FATF plenary meeting ends in the Italian capital, Rome, the country may be blacklisted for not having adequate legal tools to fight financial crimes like money laundering and terrorism financing.
Such a development will not only tarnish the international image of the country but also throw the financial sector into disarray, as leading international banks may refuse to conduct transactions on behalf of Nepal and foreign investors may either shy away from funneling funds into the country or pull their money out of it.
Against this background, Finance Minister Pun met with former finance ministers Dr Ram Sharan Mahat of Nepali Congress, Surendra Pandey of CPN(UML) and Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani of Rastriya Janashakti Party as well as Ram Janam Chaudhary, central committee member of the Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (Democratic) on Thursday to discuss the urgency of the matter and seek a consensus for endorsement of the ordinances.
“Although technical details were not discussed, they (the leaders) agreed in principal about approving the ordinances,” Pun said. He, however, admitted that the political leaders were wary of the government using “this instance as a platform to introduce other ordinances”.
“In response, I told them that nothing of the sort would happen,” Pun said, expressing optimism about reaching an agreement on the issue.
Although it is not yet known how the top leadership of the main political parties will respond over the matter, it is almost certain that Nepal will not get another chance to comply with the directions of FATF, if statements by government officials are anything to go by.
“Nepal has been putting off this issue since the end of 2010,” Minister Pun said. In February also, Nepal narrowly escaped being blacklisted as it had then mobilized various high-ranking officials and diplomatic agencies to lobby for more time, citing an ongoing political transition.
“But this time, according to diplomatic agencies, Nepal won´t be able to escape if it attends the meeting without the three ordinances,” Pun said, urging political parties to set politics aside for now and focus on safeguarding the credibility of the country.
“Who knows, agreement on economic issues may pave the way for the political parties to reach consensus on political issues as well,” he observed.
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