Kathmandu, Feb 23 (PTI) Nepal’s Parliament will start discussion on the contentious USD 500 million Millennium Corporation Challenge (MCC) programme of the US which was tabled in the lower house on Sunday for ratification amid vociferous protests against the grant assistance.
As per the notice issued by the House of Representative Secretariat, MCC Compact has been included as one of the agendas for discussion on Sunday.
Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki had presented the MCC agreement in the House of Representatives on February 20 as per the agreement reached among the ruling party alliance.
The US government has set February 28 as deadline to endorse the USD 500 million grant project from the Parliament.
The leftist members of the ruling alliance including CPN-Maoist and CPN-Unified Socialist as well as main opposition CPN UML are yet to make clear their stance on the agreement. The government needs support from either the ruling communist parties or the main opposition to endorse the agreement through majority vote in the Parliament.
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. 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 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 was not in national interest and that it was meant to counter China.
On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin in Beijing said that China is “glad to see” international assistance to Nepal but it should come without any political strings attached.
Reacting to China’s statement, the US embassy here had said, whether Nepali leaders ratify MCC is a decision for Nepal to make, as a sovereign democratic nation, and Nepal’s decision alone.
“The USD 500 million MCC grant is a gift from the American people and a partnership between the two countries that will bring jobs and infrastructure to Nepal and improve the lives of Nepalis”, the US embassy said in a statement on Saturday.
China on Wednesday stepped up its attack on the infrastructure aid being offered by the US to Nepal, saying political strings should not be attached to a “gift” and it should not come with an ultimatum.
China is wary of the US making forays into Nepal, where over the years it wielded influence among the influential Marxist parties. Currently, the Nepali Congress is leading the ruling Coalition in Kathmandu which includes major Left parties – CPN-Maoist Centre CPN-Unified Socialist.
China whose political influence as well as investments have grown in Nepal significantly, especially under the previous pro-Beijing Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli’s tenure, was mostly silent in recent months after Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba – an advocate of diplomatic balance foreign policy with close ties with India – took power last year. PTI SBP ZH ZH
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