Ruling coalition agrees to table MCC in parliament

The ruling coalition has agreed to table an agreement on the US aid project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) in the federal parliament.

A meeting of the ruling coalition held at the PM's residence in Baluwatar this morning decided to table the agreement, said Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, spokesperson of the Government of Nepal and Minister for Communications and Information Technology.

There has been controversy among political parties over whether to table the MCC agreement in the federal parliament. After lengthy discussions and positive efforts, the parties reached a consensus on the assistance received for poverty alleviation and the development of physical infrastructure.

At Friday's meeting, the parties had agreed to seek consensus on the issue. Due to the long dispute, the implementation time of the project was postponed.

Talking to media persons after the meeting, Minister Karki said that the ruling coalition had agreed to table the MCC unanimously.

When asked whether the main opposition CPN (UML) will still be continuously obstructing the meeting of the House of Representatives, Karki said, "They were the ones who took the agreement to the parliament. Whether they keep on with the blockade of parliament or not, this issue is theirs, so ask them.” He said that the issue would now be discussed in the parliament, the sovereign seat of the people.

The United States has been urging the Government of Nepal to move ahead with the implementation process by passing the MCC by Feb 28.

312 km transmission line and road infrastructure of 400 KV capacity will be constructed with the US grant of about Rs 55 billion. The project is scheduled to be completed within five years of its commencement.