The main opposition CPN-UML has said even its lawmakers protesting on the Well of the House should be counted while determining what constitutes majority during the voting for ratification of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact.
UML has been obstructing the House demanding Speaker Agni Spakota should either implement the party's decision to expel 14 lawmakers of the then Khanal-Nepal faction of the party by publishing a notice to that regard or resign over not implementing that decision. It has already stated it will continue obstruction even during the deliberation on the MCC Compact and voting for ratification.
"Our UML will enter the Well. Our votes will not be counted in 'yes' or 'no'. That is clear. But what the question is whether our attendance will be counted in the total number of votes. What the speaker says is 'this is passed by the majority of the present honorable lawmakers'," Deputy Parliamenatry Party Leader of UML Subash Chandra Nembang told Setopati.
Nembang, who is a former speaker, argued that Speaker Sapkota should say 'majority of the present lawmakers' while announcing the results and protesting UML lawmakers should also be counted among the lawmakers present as they will sign for attendance and the speaker urges them to sit on the chair while they are protesting.
This UML demand is as good as the party voting against the MCC Compact that was registered in the House for ratification by the then government led by its Chairman KP Sharma Oli. "For example there are 100 lawmakers including us. MCC will have to be ratified by the majority of that or 51 lawmakers," Nembang explained to make the party's position clear leaving no room for ambiguity.
Counting the protesting UML lawmakers in this manner effectively is not different from counting them as voting against as far as ratification of the MCC Compact is concerned because the government must muster up support of 51 lawmakers for ratification even if all the UML lawmakers were to vote against the Compact in the scenario Nembang presented.
Nembang's argument means there will be no realistic chance of ratifying the MCC Compact if sufficient numbers of the largest party in the House attend on the day of voting and continue obstruction at a time when the ruling coalition itself is almost evenly split for and against the MCC Compact.
Nepali Congress (NC) is united in support of the MCC Compact while CPN (Maoist Center) and CPN (Unified Socialist) have already decided to vote against the MCC Compact.
Federal Council Chairman of Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Baburam Bhattarai has been vocally supporting the MCC Compact and criticizing Maoist Center and Unified Socialist for opposing it. But JSP Chairman Upendra Yadav has not officially spoken about the MCC Compact. Yadav, however, has been attending meetings with Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Unified Socialist Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal on the issue.
National Asembly member of NC and constitutional expert Radheshyam Adhikari, however, begged to differ with Nembang. He argued that the MCC Compact can be ratified merely by the majority of lawmakers taking part in the voting process. "UML lawmakers will not be counted when they are chanting slogans," he stressed.
He added that the MCC will, therefore, be ratified if there are more lawmakers who support the MCC than those who oppose.
