Kathmandu: The meeting of Nepal's House of Representatives on the USD 500 million Millennium Corporation Challenge (MCC) programme was on Friday again postponed till Sunday at the request of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba after political parties failed to reach a consensus on the contentious US-grant assistance pact, sources in the Nepal's Parliament said. Nepal and the US in 2017 signed the MCC agreement, meant for building Nepal's infrastructure such as electric transmission lines and improvement of national highways.
It was tabled in the lower house of Parliament on Sunday for ratification amid vociferous protests against it from some political parties. The US government has set February 28 as the deadline to endorse the grant project from Parliament. The House meeting that was scheduled to be held on Friday has been rescheduled for 1 PM on Sunday to allow negotiations among political parties on the issue of the US grant assistance pact, the sources said.
This is the second time a meeting on the issue has been postponed, citing lack of consensus from political parties. Earlier, it was scheduled to be held on Thursday but was postponed by a day. The MCC is a bilateral United States foreign aid agency established by the US Congress in 2004. It is an independent agency separate from the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Nepal's political parties are sharply divided on whether to accept the US grant assistance under the MCC agreement. The Leftist political parties have been opposing the pact, saying it is not in the national interest and is meant to counter China. Prime Minister Deuba has started hectic political consultations after he failed to convince major parties of the ruling alliance - CPN-Maoist Centre led by Pushpakamal Dahal Prachanda' and CPN-Unified Socialist-led by Madhav Kumar Nepal - regarding the endorsement of the USD 500 million project from the Parliament.
Sources in the ruling Nepali Congress, led by Deuba, said that as the political parties required more time for negotiations to forge consensus on the issue of MCC, the meeting of the House of Representatives was postponed for the second time. Nepal's top political leaders, including Deuba, CPN-MC chairman "Prachanda" and CPN-Unified Socialist chief Madhav Kumar Nepal among others were busy on Friday having intra-party and inter-party consultations on the issue of MCC. Nepali Congress is the only political party which has decided to endorse the agreement in the Parliament. Other political parties have not yet made public their clear cut view on whether to accept or not the US grant assistance.
PTI
