The Nepal Weekly 
February 22, 2022Nepal Government on Sunday presented the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact despite protests on the street as well as in the Parliament amidst tight security. Communication Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki tabled the 500 million US grant assistance agreement in the House of Representatives amidst protests by some ruling party and opposition Lawmakers.
Earlier in the morning during a joint meeting of the coalition partners a decision was taken unanimously to present the agreement in the Parliament for ratification. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-Maoist Centre chairman Pushpakamal Dahal “Prachanda” and CPN-Unified Socialist chief Madhav Kumar Nepal among others were present at the meeting held at PM’s official residence at Baluwatar.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the Parliament Agni Sapkota adjourned the House session after a brief meeting in which government spokesperson Karki presented the MCC agreement and some leftist Lawmakers spoke against the agreement. The next meeting of the House is scheduled to take place on Feb. 24, when discussion on the agreement will start.
The MCC COmpact signed between Nepal and USA five years ago aims to fund major infrastructure projects including construction of electric transmission lines and improve various highways of Nepal. The US government has set February 28 as deadline for parliamentary ratification of the agreement. The projects under MCC needs to be completed within five years of their implementation.
