By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Feb. 6: Nepal and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an agency of the United States government, signed an agreement on September 14, 2017 for a US$630 million project, with $130 million investment from Nepal, to develop cross-border transmission lines and rehabilitate the strategic roads.

The project implementation agreement for the programme was signed on September 29, 2019 with a decision to launch the project on June 30, 2020. However, the agreement stipulates that the grant must be ratified by the federal parliament of Nepal and since that has not been done, it has not been implemented yet.

Leaders of the ruling parties Nepali Congress (NC) and Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal (JSP-N) as well as the main opposition CPN (UML) have expressed concern the huge grant support received by the country could be rescinded if it is not endorsed by the parliament and they worry that such a withdrawal could send a negative message to the international community.

No military element
Former Prime Minister and Chairman of the federal council of the JSP-N Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has called for the ratification of the MCC through the development of a common understanding among all political parties. He said, “The agreement has reached a stage where it should be ratified by the parliament. It is not appropriate to prolong this process.”

Dr. Bhattarai remarked that the raising of doubts and suspicions among the parties regarding the MCC issue had led to unnecessary disputes. However, he argued that since MCC is an infrastructure project, it would not be right to create a controversy.

He further clarified that the agreement did not contain any military element and assured that the agreement could be cancelled with a notice of 30 days if any military or political issue detrimental to the interests of the nation popped up during its implementation.

Need for open discussion in parliament
Senior Nepali Congress leader and former Minister for Finance Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat has said that MCC is a grant provided by the United States for Nepal’s development. “The grant is in favour of Nepal’s interest. There is no reason to bring the grant into controversy,” he said.

All the past governments and political parties that were at the helm before the current government have expressed their commitment for accepting the grant and implementing the projects under it, Mahat said, adding, “There is no need to create confusion and dispute.” “We should accept and utilise this significant assistance offered by Nepal’s friendly nation, the USA, that has been extending its important support to Nepal for a long period,” he said.

It is wrong to create controversies by associating this grant with the Indo-Pacific Strategy because the US has provided the grant to Nepal purely for building development infrastructure, Mahat said.
Former Minister for Foreign Affairs and UML Deputy General Secretary Pradeep Gyawali stressed the need for the MCC to come before the parliament and for lawmakers to be able to hold free discussions on its provisions.

He said, “It should come to the House. It cannot be made an issue to bargain over behind closed doors. Our opinion is that it should be debated in the parliament.”
Gyawali also said that the Speaker of the House of Representatives should facilitate the process of bringing MCC to the parliament.