Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba appears to be fully committed to pushing the MCC (Millennium Challenge Corporation) through the current session of the federal parliament even though his coalition partners, mainly the CPN-Maoist Centre and CPN-Unified Socialist, are still undecided on the issue.

It has been five years since the government reached an agreement with the US for a grant of $500 million under the MCC for the development of transmission lines. However, the agreement has landed into controversy, clearly dividing the Nepali intelligentsia and political parties in favour and against it.

It was the Deuba-led government which reached the deal with the MCC in September 2017, when the first general and local level elections were being held for the first time under the country's new constitution. It may be recalled that the erstwhile KP Oli-led government had also tried to push forward the MCC agreement through the parliament. But it could not do so due to division within the then NCP, mainly because of opposition from within the party. Then NCP had formed a three-member taskforce, led by Jhala Nath Khanal, to study the pros and cons of the MCC deal.

The Khanal panel came to the conclusion that the MCC could not be passed through the parliament unless some of the provisions included in the deal were amended.

Now, the Deuba-led coalition partners have also formed a three-member taskforce to review the deal. Although the Khanal-led taskforce has yet to submit its report to the coalition partners, PM Deuba has been calling on the coalition partners to table the deal in the parliament. From the very beginning, PM Deuba has been insisting that it is the responsibility of the parliament to either pass the deal or reject it.

So, it must be left to the parliament to decide on it. Although the MCC deal does not say whether or not it should be endorsed by the parliament, Nepal's Treaty Act requires the deal to be tabled in the parliament for endorsement with a simple majority. In order to reach a common understanding on the MCC deal among the coalition partners, the meeting of the House of Representatives has been postponed for 10 days.

PM Deuba is learned to have asked US officials to wait till February 28. PM Deuba wants to pass it through an understanding with the coalition partners.

If it is not possible, he wants to proceed with the parliamentary process. After the PM took the initiative to table the deal in the parliament for its endorsement, Prachanda and Nepal, the chief architects behind the formation of the coalition government under Deuba, are now under pressure. If the CPN-Maoist Centre and CPN-Unified Socialist refuse to pass it through the parliament without making corrections on some of the so-called controversial issues, PM Deuba might look for the support of the main opposition CPN-UML, which has not made up its mind on the deal. Oli has hinted he could extend his party's support provided that Deuba breaks ties with the coalition partners. Whatever the case, this issue should not have lingered so long. The major political parties should have held extensive discussion on the MCC before its singing with US officials.

Hope for the best

This government would earn kudos from the people of Kathmandu if it is able to rehabilitate the Melamchi Water Supply Project and supply water to the valley by mid-April, or the start of the Nepali New Year. Unforeseen floods triggered by heavy rains in June last year had caused massive damage to the dam and tunnel in Sindhupalchowk district just when the project had completed its trial run and was about to supply water to the valley. The Chinese construction company, Sino Hydro, has been working without a break to remove the massive debris that has been deposited in the intake area of the project and redirect water from the Melamchi River to Kathmandu in another three months.

Minister of Water Supply and Sanitation Umakanta Chaudhary has assured that 170 million litres of water would start flowing from the project by mid-April, just when the country prepares to go for the local level elections. Given the acute shortage of drinking water, the valley residents are forced to buy water in tankers from private companies, at prices 13 times greater than what they pay monthly to the government utility. So any amount of water from the project would provide great relief to the valley residents.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 1, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.