Kathmandu: The United States-based Millenium Challenge Corporation has written a letter addressed to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN (Maoist Center) Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, setting the deadline to ratify Nepal Compact.
In a response to a letter sent by PM Deuba and Maoist chairperson Prachanda on September 29, the MCC has warned that the absence of ratification would end MCC’s partnership with Nepal.
In the response, it has set February 28 as the deadline, as per the request made from the Nepal side. “The MCC Board noted your commitment in the September 2021 letter to work to ratify the Compact in four to five months from the date of the letter. MCC therefore requests that you continue to work with Parliamentarians and coalition partners to ratify the Compact by the timeline indicated in your letter, no later than February 28, 2022,” reads the letter.
“Without action on your part by February 28, 2022, the MCC Board will discuss next steps at its March 2022 meeting, including whether to continue with the Compact. Absent ratification, it is within the Board’s authority to discontinue Nepal’s eligibility to receive the $500 million compact grant from the United States. Such a decision would end MCC’s partnership with Nepal.”
The MCC further states that continuing with the Compact is “Nepal’s sovereign choice. We have worked together with the government for close to a decade to move our partnership forward for the people of Nepal.”
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