MCC fails to gather consensus, parliamentary debate demanded

Major political parties have not been able to reach a consensus on the US aid project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). Discussions between the ruling coalition parties at the PM's residence in Baluwatar this morning failed to reach any conclusion. The meeting has been adjourned till Sunday.

The meeting of the House of Representatives was limited to the general agenda due to lack of consensus among the parties. The meeting of the Federal Parliament has not been able to enter the important agenda for a long time due to the obstruction and sloganeering of the lawmakers of the main opposition party CPN (UML).There are sharp differences between the parties over the issue of MCC. The ruling party, the Nepali Congress, is in favor of immediately moving ahead with a project linked to Nepal's poverty alleviation and economic prosperity. It has been saying that there is a lot of politics regarding the development of 312 km long 400 kV capacity double circuit transmission line and road infrastructure and now it is not possible to wait long.

The CPN (Maoist Center), a partner party of the government, has been saying that it would be better to go ahead by amending some issues as there have been many comments regarding the MCC agreement at the grassroots level. UCPN (M) Chairman Prachanda has been saying that there is no question that the US will not seek assistance as it is a good ally of Nepal and some of the queries raised by the people should be addressed objectively.

The same is true of the CPN (Unified Socialist). Speaking to media persons at the Federal Parliament Building, Khanal, who is also a former prime minister, said that some of the provisions of the agreement should be addressed to the general public. He said that every member of the House of Representatives has the right to have their say in the matter of MCC and he himself wanted to take part in the discussion for five hours.

Former Prime Minister Khanal pointed out the need for effective discussion in the federal parliament as there was no need to come to the parliament as the issue was related to the Sambhata agreement and also raised questions at the citizen level. Talking to media persons at the Federal Parliament Building, General Secretary of the Nepali Congress Gagan Thapa said that he had proposed to move the MCC forward even after passing the resolution. As there is a provision in the MCC agreement that the government should give information and repeal it within 30 days, now it can be passed and implemented, said Thapa.

Leader Thapa said that the project started during the tenure of former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and the then Finance Minister Surendra Pandey was involved in the project. MCC will provide about Rs. 55 billion for the development of Nepal's energy and transport sector. The grant aid will play an important role in economic development, construction of power transmission lines and road maintenance and will contribute to the sustainable development of Nepal.

Under the Power Transmission Line Project, quality infrastructure will be developed by constructing 312 km long high capacity transmission line of 400 KV capacity. The inter-country power transmission line project will also boost electricity trade and Nepal will be able to take advantage of it. For this, a 400 kV double circuit inter-country transmission line connecting Butwal to Gorakhpur of India is being constructed with the joint investment of Nepal and India. This will pave the way for Nepal to trade electricity between India and Bangladesh.

Reliability of power supply will be ensured through power transmission lines of major cities including Kathmandu Valley. This will increase electricity consumption and attract more investment in power generation. The Council of Ministers headed by UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli had given approval to the Ministry of Finance to submit the grant agreement between the government and the US aid agency MCC to the Federal Parliament in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 of the Nepal Treaty Act, 2047 BS.

n the proposal submitted to the Federal Parliament by the then Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada, the agreement was submitted to the Parliament for approval by a simple majority of the House of Representatives as per Rule 230 of the Rules of the House of Representatives, 2075 BS. The Millennium Challenge Compact Agreement was signed between the Government of Nepal and MCC on September 15, 2008.

According to Congress General Secretary Thapa, since most of the former prime ministers of Nepal have participated in every process of MCC, its approval is also necessary for the national interest. He said that every member of parliament should discuss the issue with their views and now a conclusion should be reached. However, former Congress general secretary Shanshak Koirala said that now Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had only two options to pass the MCC or save the alliance. He mentioned that it would be appropriate for the MCC grant to be passed by the parliament as it is necessary for Nepal. He said that Nepal has more interest in MCC than US and there is no alternative to accept the grant.

As the power transmission line project has strategic importance in energy trade, it has been included in the project of national pride. As per the decision of the Council of Ministers on 5 September 2075, the MCC project has been included in the list of projects of national pride. The then Finance Minister Dr. Khatiwada had taken it to the parliament as per the provision that the agreement must be approved by the parliament for the implementation. The main opposition party UML has stated that it has no comment on the issue as there is no clear opinion from the government.

UML Secretary Yogesh Bhattarai expressed the same view in a conversation with media persons at the Federal Parliament Building, Baneshwor. "We don't have much to say about MCC," he said. Our concern is not the alliance but the election. ” It is estimated that 23 million citizens will get the benefit from the transmission line and road maintenance. About 5 million households will benefit from this project.