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MRP deal gets PM green signal
KATHMANDU, AUG 22 -
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Sunday instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to go ahead with the signing of the Machine Readable Passport (MRP) deal with the French company Oberthur Technologies “as soon as possible”.
If the deal is signed, it will bring the curtains down on what has been a hugely controversial event, which has seen Prime Minister Nepal and Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala flip-flop on their positions. As per the instruction of the last Cabinet meeting on Aug. 13, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) will now provide the approval copy of design and insignia of the MRP, most likely on Monday to MoFA. Without the approval, MoFA cannot take a call itself.
Aug. 13 will go down as the date of the approval. This was the date when the Cabinet delegated Prime Minister Nepal to take a decision on the issue. Nepal convened a high-level meeting on MRP on Sunday evening where Sujata Koirala, Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire, Foreign Secretary Madan Kumar Bhattarai and other senior officials were present.
Obterthur Technologies, which has bagged the project, has agreed to supply an MRP for US$ 3.59.
After receiving the dossiers of the approval from the PMO, the foreign secretary will sign the deal with Oberthur on behalf of the Government of Nepal. The signing could take place as early as Tuesday. “As decided, Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire will forward the approval copy to MoFA on Monday, citing the previous Cabinet decision,” a highly placed government official told the Post.
Opposing the Prime Minister’s decision, Foreign Minister Koirala, however, said the prime minister’s instruction has “encroached on her jurisdiction as the minister in charge of foreign affairs.” She has also accused Foreign Ministry
officials of keeping her in the dark during the negotiations.
Posted on: 2010-08-23 07:22
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