Ruling CPN has decided to stop all works related to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) until it is endorsed by the House.
The secretariat meeting held at Baluwatar on Saturday has taken a decision to stop works related to the MCC as it is under consideration in the House. "We have reached an understanding to do the works related to MCC that have to be done after endorsement only after it is passed," CPN Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha said after the meeting. "Works related to the MCC will be stopped until it is endorsed."
He added that Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli will study about it further and provide instruction.
Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada, and Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali and standing committee member Bhim Rawal, who were in the MCC task force formed by CPN, were also present during the meeting.
Shrestha revealed that Finance Minister Khatiwada clarified why projects under the MCC were included in the budget. "Finance Minister Khatiwada clarified that the projects will be implemented if the MCC is passed and the government will move forward making alternative arrangements if not," Shrestha elaborated.
The ruling CPN is divided on the issue of MCC. Many including Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal are unhappy about the projects under it being included in the government's policies and programs and then the budget, and want to take a decision on the MCC in the party.
But Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli has been pointing that the MCC, which the main opposition party Nepali Congress has already urged the government to pass, has already been tabled in the House and it will be decided by the House and not political parties.
CPN had hotly debated MCC during the standing committee meeting in December 2019 with the erstwhile Maoists and those from Madhav Kumar Nepal faction opposing it saying it should only be passed if it becomes clear that it is not part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy floated by America.
The US embassy in Kathmandu later issued a 10-point statement clarifying that the MCC is not part of military affairs.
The press statement, which it said was in response to a large number of queries from Nepali citizens, politicians, and members of the media about the MCC, claimed that every Nepali government since 2012 has been in favor of the MCC and that there is no military component to the compact.
The issue was raised even during the central committee meeting that concluded on February 2 and the party formed a task force to address the issue. The party formed the task force led by senior leader Jhala Nath Khanal and including Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali and standing committee member Bhim Rawal as members on February 2 to study MCC to find out whether it is part of the American military strategy or not.
The task force recommended that it should not be endorsed without amendment.
