KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 16

Minister of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Dilendra Prasad Badu has said that efforts are being made to forge agreement to table the US-aid proposal Millennium Challenge Corporation in the House.

According to him, time has been fixed till Friday to forge consensus for the same.

Talking to media while leaving the House of Representatives today, Minister Badu said the document has to be tabled in the House to address the related discourses and disputes at the public and political spheres. 'We aim to find common ground for taking the proposal to the Parliament for deliberations,' he said.

'The political parties have realised that they need more time to reach agreement on the matter.'

The Lower House shall meet again at 1:00pm on February 18 and top leaders of the ruling partners will hold talks for further discussions on the proposal a day before the session.

Similarly, senior CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Jhalanath Khanal argued that the document should be revised ahead of parliamentary procedures as the public was not informed regarding the matter while signing it.

'Consensus on some issues is followed by amendments and revisions. Hence, force is not applicable in such cases.'

In his response to a media query that it was possible to be part of the government and to engage in street protest at the same time, the former prime minister argued, 'Of course it is possible and you can see it happening at the moment.'

CPN-Maoist Centre leader Onsari Gharti Magar termed the MCC proposal an issue of national concern. She claimed that it was agreed to not float the document in today's HoR meeting, realising the need of further discussions to establish a widespread agreement before advancing towards House proceedings.

'We urged the same before the meeting.' According to her, the main opposition still seems unconvinced on moving the proposal towards parliamentary proceedings.

'Any political party in the ruling alliance can decide on the issue and other parties may not entertain the decision. The proposal was not tabled as the obstruction from oppositions has continued,' Magar added.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 17, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.