The deadline is Monday. Deliberations on the Millennium Challenge Corporation-Nepal Compact in Parliament have been scheduled for Sunday. And on Saturday, Nepal’s political parties continued negotiations to find what they call consensus on ratifying the compact, only to fail yet again as they have been over the last few days.

Second rung leaders of the ruling Nepali Congress and the opposition CPN-UML on Saturday failed to arrive at a conclusion after the UML reiterated its condition—that the current coalition of five parties must break, the Speaker should be removed and a notice of expulsion of 14 of its lawmakers must be issued by the Parliament Secretariat.

As talks failed, the scheduled meeting between Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, also the Nepali Congress president, and UML chair KP Sharma Oli didn’t take place.

Meanwhile, Deuba’s two coalition partners—Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist) which are opposed to the compact but want to save the coalition—continued to explore options so as to achieve what they want, ratification of the grant agreement without breaking the alliance.

According to leaders, a draft on “interpretive declaration” is being worked out, which they could attach with the compact ratification document. Those familiar with this option said such a declaration, which is internationally practised, can raise concerns about the compact provisions.

At least two leaders from the ruling coalition told the Post that the draft will be discussed at Sunday’s meeting of the alliance partners.

“General Secretary of Nepali Congress Gagan Thapa, Maoist Centre leader Shakti Basnet and senior advocate Govinda Bandi have worked on the draft,” said a leader who participated in the meeting that discussed the possibility of the “interpretive declaration”.

According to the leader present at the meeting held late on Saturday evening, most of the leaders of the Maoist Centre and the Unified Socialist were positive on endorsing the MCC compact with the “interpretative declaration”.

Besides Maoist chair Dahal and Unified Socialist chair Madhav Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal, Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Upendra Yadav were also present in the meeting, according to leaders.

Unified Socialist’s Khanal and Maoist Centre’s Shrestha are among the fierce opposers of the MCC compact.

“Khanal and Shrestha were still opposed to the idea,” said the leader, asking not to be named.

Even as the government is making efforts to ratify the compact, one problem it faces is continued House obstructions by the UML.

Infuriated at Speaker Agni Sapkota, a close ally of Maoist Centre chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, for not acting on its action against 14 of its lawmakers, including Madhav Nepal, the UML has been obstructing the House meetings for months. Madhav Nepal in late August formed the CPN (Unified Socialist).

Deuba, who is under pressure to ratify the compact, started seeking support of the UML after the Maoist Centre and the Unified Socialist said they would vote against the $500 million US grant, which is meant for electricity transmission lines and road maintenance.

The Maoists, however, maintained they would continue to make efforts to save the coalition even while not supporting the MCC compact, something some Congress leaders find duplicity on the part of the key governing partner.

A UML leader said Saturday’s meeting between second rung leaders of his party the Nepali Congress could not reach any deal as there was no commitment on “our conditions”.

“We told the Nepali Congress leaders to come up with one unified voice,” said UML General Secretary Shankar Pokhrel. “The Nepali Congress is in negotiations with us also just as it is in talks with its partners to save the coalition.”

According to Pokhrel, the Congress must make up its mind first.

“How can we respond to them unless they make their position clear on the MCC… whether the Congress wants to ratify it and whether it needs our support,” said Pokhrel. “Congress leaders want the coalition also and our support also. How can we respond to them?”

On Saturday, days ahead of the MCC deadline, politicians continued their rhetoric.

Earlier in the morning, Dahal, while speaking at a function organised at his party office Peris Danda, said the coalition is in danger.

“Once again we need to fight another war. Conspiracies are on to snatch away all the gains like the constitution and republicanism,” Dahal said at the function. “We had said the coalition was formed to safeguard the constitution, democracy and national interest. We have arrived at a situation of losing this coalition because of the MCC.”

However, after holding talks with senior leaders of his party and those from CPN (Unified Socialist) at Singha Durbar in the afternoon, Dahal said the issue of MCC could be resolved through agreement.

“We are still discussing. We will seek a solution to the ongoing problem in such a way that the coalition will remain intact. We will move ahead in agreement,” Dahal told reporters after the meeting with top leaders of his party and the Unified Socialist.

Both the Maoist Centre and the Unified Socialist do not want to break the alliance as that could weaken them politically.

The Congress-UML negotiations of late have thrown them into a tizzy, and they are in a bid to find a way that allows them to be in the coalition while the MCC compact also gets ratified.

Unified Socialist chair Madhav Nepal, who is probably in the most precarious situation politically ever since he parted ways with the UML, on Saturday upped the rhetoric against Oli.

“If KP Oli regains power again, he will destroy the country,” said Nepal while speaking at a programme.

Also on Saturday, Oli launched his own attack on his bete noires Dahal and Nepal.

“Fearing that the coalition could break after the Congress started talking with us, some of our friends—Dahal and Nepal—went to meet Deuba yesterday morning to plead before him to save the coalition,” said Oli at the second national conference of the Professional and Progressive Lawyers Association.

Deuba’s yet another coalition partner, the Janata Samajbadi Party, continues to remain divided on the MCC compact, with its federal council chair Baburam Bhattarai clearly standing for the grant agreement’s ratification.

On Saturday, Bhattarai said CPN (Maoist Centre) should leave the government if the party does not want to support the MCC.

Parties have said they will continue talks on Sunday as well. The House meeting has been scheduled for 1pm and deliberations on the MCC compact, which was tabled on February 20, have been included in the day’s tentative agenda.

The Unified Socialist has called its Standing Committee meeting at 11am to discuss the MCC issue.

“The MCC compact will be ratified; there’s no doubt about it,” said Min Bishwokarma, a Congress lawmaker close to Deuba. “It’s just that the prime minister has been making efforts to build national consensus on such an important matter.”