Nepali Congress spokesperson Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said that the Speaker of the House of Representatives should not obstruct government bills, including controversial Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) agreement.
After the meeting of the Central Working Committee held at Sanepa on Thursday, spokesperson Dr Mahat said that the Speaker should fulfill his responsibility and the bills sent by the government should not be stopped.
“It is the job of the Speaker to table the bills sent by the government in the house. The MCC cannot be stopped for house discussion. There is a lot of confusion about the MCC, which is purely an assistance.”
Dr Mahat said that the outcome of the party’s meeting was to pass the MCC. “The MCC has also been discussed,” he said. “The parliamentary process should be taken forward.”
Spokesperson Dr Mahat said that the meeting also discussed about empowering the Nepali Congress in the local elections, what to do if the term of the sister organizations and well-wisher organizations have expired and is vacant. According to him, the meeting will end at 2 pm on Friday.
Speaker at the House of Representatives Agni Prasad Sapkota had repeatedly raised voice over the MCC which he had said was part of US-led Indo-Pacific Strategy. Most of the parliamentarians from CPN (Maoist Center) and CPN (Unified Socialist) have openly criticised about the MCC and vowed to go against it.
However, Speaker Sapkota himself was found to be against the MCC, and rejected repeated calls from the government to endorse MCC in the parliament.
Earlier, the meeting of the Working Committee of the ruling Nepali Congress has concluded that the agreement with the USA on Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) agreement should be approved by the parliament.
Central member and former general secretary Dr Shashank Koirala informed that the meeting concluded that the MCC should be passed even if there is no five party alliance.
According to him, during the meeting, President Sher Bahadur Deuba informed about the ongoing discussions on MCC within the ruling coalition and gave time to Central Member and former Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat to speak on MCC. After Mahat’s explanation, Deuba asked Mahat to give him good and bad details about MCC, said Central Member Koirala.
According to him, Prime Minister Deuba said that the US is willing to provide grant to Nepal, and there should not be much controversy and division in it, and it is in Nepal’s interest.
The MCC episode has created confusion on the future of the ruling coalition. Coaltion leaders Prachanda and Madhav Kumar Nepal wanted to present MCC in the next parliament after the election.
