KATHMANDU, Feb 20: Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota has said the US aid agreement reached between Nepal government and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) of the US was tabled in parliament to prevent Nepali society from further polarizing. As the Speaker apprised the House, the decision was also based on the public voice on the issue.
His statement followed differing views from the CPN (Maoist Center), Nepal Workers and Peasants’ Party and Rastriya Janamorcha about the move to take the document toward parliamentary proceedings. As he explained, the document was included in the agenda of the parliament session with the realization that it would be appropriate to ensure broader discussions on the issue of national importance.
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“We experienced parliamentary obstruction for long and this has affected the entire aspects and dimensions of the functioning of the state,” the Speaker said, adding that such obstruction would cause further adversity at a time when there is a need for deliberations on the issue of national importance. He urged all bodies concerned for support to build an atmosphere for deliberations on the document. Speaker Sapkota tried to make it clear that the agreement was introduced in the House recognising the opinions and sentiments of top political leaders, lawmakers, constitutionalists, legal experts, media, intellectuals and distinguished personalities in society.
Meanwhile, the three political parties including the CPN (Maoist Center) have said their serious attention was drawn toward the presentation of the agreement in the House of Representatives (HoR) when the House obstruction continued and broader political consensus on the matter was missing.
Maoist Center Chief Whip Dev Prasad Gurung, Nepal Workers and Peasants’ Party lawmaker Prem Suwal, Rastriya Janamorcha’s Durga Poudel and lawmaker Dr Bhim Bahadur Rawal aired the view that some of the MCC provisions were against the interest of the nation and they should have been amended before the document was tabled in parliament.
