Govt, Maoists sharply divided

• Pascoe arriving today
• Leaders at variance over priorities

KATHMANDU, DEC 02 -

A day before the arrival of the UN Under-Secretary General, B. Lynn Pascoe, in Kathmandu, the government and the main opposition, UCPN (Maoist), still seem sharply divided over the priorities of the peace process. Leaders in the ruling parties, including the prime minister, want UNMIN to leave in January while the Maoists still believe UNMIN has a role to play until the peace process is complete.

The UN political department chief will arrive in Kathmandu after consultations with senior Indian officials in New Delhi on the management of Nepal’s peace process after UNMIN. In Nepal, Pascoe will express serious concerns over the political impasse with top party leaders and representatives of diplomatic missions and solicit their views on how best to put an alternative mechanism in place post-UNMIN.

“The second visit in less than two months means he is deeply worried,” said a Western diplomat. “He wants to know what exactly do we have in mind. After all, the peace process is still far from over and there has to be some mechanism out there on the ground for UNMIN to feel secure that all the good work it’s done doesn’t go to waste in a hurry.”

Signs on the ground are still far from promising.

Acting Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachhedar is to present an action plan proposed by the Special Committee Secretariat Coordinator Balananda Sharma on behalf of the government on Friday afternoon. The proposal opposed by the Maoists plans to recruit 154 former security personnel to replace UNMIN’s arms monitors and establish Special Committee’s supervision over the cantonments by the end of this month.

“The government will reiterate its position. That it no longer needs UNMIN after the expiry of its current mandate in January. Efforts are underway to conclude the peace process,” said Peace and Reconstruction Minister Rakam Chemjong. “The Special Committee or any other mechanism will replace UNMIN’s monitoring role if the peace process is not completed by mid-January.”

Maoist leader and Special Committee member Barsha Man Pun said his party would object to the enforcement of Sharma’s “unauthorised proposal” during their meeting with Pascoe and would instead ask him to keep UNMIN until the “peace process reaches a logical conclusion.”
However, the parties are sharply divided over what constitutes the logical conclusion to the peace process and what should come first—integration and rehab or constitution drafting.

“The Special Committee Secretariat doesn’t have the mandate to monitor Maoist army personnel. So UNMIN’s arms monitoring function shouldn’t cease after the expiry of its current mandate,” Pun said. “UNMIN will continue until the integration process reaches a logical conclusion as this is the spirit of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,” Pun added.

Towards that end, Maoist leaders say they are set to reiterate their commitment for rehab and integration of their combatants once there is a “package agreement” on the formation of the new government and taking the constitution drafting process forward.
They insist they have shown some flexibility in recent times. The Maoist party has termed Sharma’s (an NC appointee) appointment as the Special Committee Secretariat’s coordinator as “a major breakthrough in the peace process.” It has also expressed commitment to conduct a “formal ceremony” in the presence of the international community and government officials to bring the combatants under the government.

Most NC and UML leaders, however, rubbish the idea of the package deal as nothing but a time-buying tactic. “We would like to first of all see the Maoists demonstrate progress on integration and rehab without putting up any conditions,” said NC Special Committee member Ram Sharan Mahat. “There has been a lot of progress in constitution writing but not an inch has moved on integration.”

Pascoe, according to UN sources, will convey the leaders of the major parties that the UN Headquarters is unlikely to review the Jan. 15 closure of UNMIN unless all five permanent members of the Security Council change their mind. He will, however, assure leaders that the UN will closely follow the progress on the ground and will be ready to provide its good offices if asked.

“The prime minister doesn’t want to see any kind of UN presence in Nepal with regards to the peace process after Mid-January,” a prime minister’s aide told the Post. “But we are open to non-political UN role in peace if the Nepali Congress feels the country still needs one.”Mahat said his party would be “open to discussion” of a “small UN team” which will have an observer status should there be any need for “moral pressure” to take the peace process forward.

Pascoe’s meetings
Friday
FM Sujata Koirala
DPM Bijay Kumar Gachhedar
UML Vice-Chairman Ashok Rai
Top leaders of four Madhes based parties
Special Committee members
Maoists Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal

Saturday
NC President Sushil Koirala
US Ambassador Scott H DeLisi and US Deputy Assistant Secretary Alyssa Ayres
Envoys of Australia, Denmark, Norway, the European High Commission, Switzerland and Finland
Chinese Ambassador Qiu Guohong
British Ambassador John Tucknott
Joint meeting with ambassadors of P5 countries (the US, the UK, Russia, France and China)
French Envoy Jean Charles Demarquis
Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood
Speaker Subas Nembang