Room for few more

EDITORIAL

THE HIMALAYAN TIMES

Tuesday June 27, 2006

The meetings between top Maoists and leaders of the Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) against the backdrop of the current misapprehension over the 8-point agreement constitute a healthy practice, which needs to be sustained at least until the completion of the constituent assembly (CA) elections. Maoist chairman Prachanda and politburo member Dr Bab-uram Bhattarai on Sunday met CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Nepal and president of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party Narayan Man Bijuckchhe separately in the capital and discussed matters relating to misunderstanding among the alliance partners over the latest peace pact with the rebels. Issues of ‘conspiracies being hatched by reactionaries’, arms management and CA polls were discussed, according to Dinanath Sharma, a member of the Maoist talks team. Bijuckchhe said he assured Prachanda that the alliance partners were not opposed to the agreement per se, but to the process: that the partners were not consulted before finalising the accord.

Indeed, since the June 16 pact, leaders of political parties have kicked up controversy by expressing their discontent over the agreement and bringing up the issue of arms management (what it means and whether it should be a pre-condition for the formation of the interim government). The agreements between the rebels and the SPA and the consensus in the country already provide for a package deal, with the constituent assembly being the focal point, which includes the eventual management of arms of both the armies. Any doubts will have to be removed through mutual consultations rather than through a war of words in the media. The unnecessary controversy and confusion over the committee for the drafting of an interim constitution was also certainly not in the spirit of Jana Andolan II and the pact between the two sides.

However, things seem to be settling down somewhat. For example, the government and the Maoist negotiating teams on Sunday also decided to induct more members into the drafting committee. One is reported to be a representative of the CPN-UML and two, of women. There has been no criticism as such of the competence of any of the six existing members of the panel. But fresh induction must be based on quality, not on the consideration of gender or ethnicity. Nobody can have any reservations about women being on the committee, even in a majority, provided they are well known in the field of constitutional law. Mere expertise in criminal or family law, for example, does not qualify a woman, and for that matter, a man, to draw up a nation’s constitution. On such occasions, mere representation tends to become a vice rather than a virtue. What is of vital importance is that a sound constitution should be written, incorporating the universally accepted principles of equality, individual freedom, rule of law, and institutionalisation of the sovereignty vested in the people.

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 Monitoring panel gets terms of reference

THE HIMALAYAN TIMES

Tuesday, June 27,2006

KATHMANDU: The government and the CPN-Maoist today announced the terms of reference, jurisdiction and powers of the Code of Conduct and National Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (CCNCMC) at a meeting at the Peace Secretariat.
Prof Birendra Mishra today replaced Dr Devendra Raj Pandey as its coordinator. The latter had expressed inability to join the team citing a “busy schedule.”

The terms of reference and jurisdiction allows the 31-member committee to look into the compliance of the 25-point code of conduct. It can make suggestions to both sides about better compliance after conducting investigation into reports of aberration. The monitoring will be in “true spirit” of the 12-point and 8-point understanding reached between government and Maoists last year and recently, respectively. Both the sides will be cooperating with the team when investigating issues of importance in relation to monitoring. There will also be a joint team of government and the rebels to discuss the report submitted by it even as it will try to sort out the complications which surface in the area of ceasefire compliance. There is also a provision of a joint team drawn up from among talks teams to discuss and enforce the contents of the report submitted by it. However, it will be submitting the report to the coordinators of the talks teams until such a team is formed.

Both the sides have reached a consensus to disseminate the periodic and other reports through the media. The committee will be free to form local committees depending on the need. The panel which will be drawing up its own work procedure will have its own office and budget released by the government and will be working as long as the statute drawn up by the constituent assembly does not go into force. Inter alia, it will be free to seek the help from UN agency working in the area of human rights compliance and monitoring. The statement to this effect was signed by Home Minister KP Sitaula and KB Mahara.

Mahara said the misunderstandings dogging the peace process currently could be “fought out squarely” only if the government clarifies certain issues. He said this while speaking at a meeting in the capital today. He, however, did not elaborate.
Sitting alongside him were Sitaula and member of the rebel talks team Dina Nath Sharma who had earlier said that the talks between the government team and the Maoists were going ahead successfully.

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 A hiccup in the peace process

CK LAL

NEPALI TIMES

Tuesday June 27, 2006

In marked contrast to the air of optimism in the countryside, Kathmandu’s bourgeoisie is wallowing in doom and gloom. It is deeply suspicious of the deal between the seven party alliance and the Maoists last Friday.

Taking its cue from the gossip of worried professionals, the privileged elite has begun to see red. At parlour parleys, the social acceptability index of scare-mongering about an imminent Maoist takeover is at an all-time high.

If distrust of the rebels and ridicule of the government continues at this rate there is a risk the peace process will be derailed. In conflict situations. perceptions often turn into reality and become self-fulfilling prophecies. The parties and the Maoist commanders are trying their best to emerge out of stereotypes. They shouldn’t be forced back to their past roles.

Weapons management of the Maoists is a real issue of concern, but so is the position of the recently-renamed Nepali Army during the period leading towards elections of the constituent assembly. The The Maoists haven’t renounced violence, but then neither has the army accepted its excesses including disappearances.

During these initial phases an air of mistrust is natural. Leaders need to persuade sceptics that just as exceptions can’t be generalised into rules, rules shouldn’t be minimised into exceptions.

The Maoists haven’t backtracked from any of their commitments in the 12-point understanding. Despite intense pressure from right-wingers, the parties have refused to dump the rebels from the democratisation process. A legal framework is necessary to institutionalise the pact, and perhaps that is the reason the committee to draft an interim constitution has attracted the attention of all malefactors. Once the provisional statute is enacted, it will be extremely difficult to spoil the peace process.

Pulls and pressures on transitional regimes are often inversely proportional to their strength. The weaker a government, the more it is asked to deliver. Various interests groups have been pestering the government to address all inequalities. Having decided to share power with Maoists, the government is understandably wary of doing anything that can be construed as violation of trust.

The eight point agreement signed last Friday is a death certificate for the Maoist rebellion. It’s quite unlikely that those who negotiated and finalised such a momentous deal were unaware of the hurdles that its implementation was likely to face. And it’s natural for the elite to fear for their priviledges.

The MPs are also understandably peeved by the decision to dissolve parliament, but they have already played their role by passing our own ‘Magna Carta’ on 10 June. Some self-important cabinet members leaders are miffed that they weren’t consulted during the finalisation of the historic agreement. But they forget that powerful interests are still not comfortable with the possibility of an eight-party alliance that includes the Maoists ruling the country.

The preparation of an interim constitution is not as complex as it is being made out to be. An interim constitution by definition isn’t a set of directives, it’s a document of descriptions to codify existing practices. The drafting committee can complete the compilation of a workable statute within the prescribed period of 15 days if it is allowed to function.

Laxman Prasad Aryal and his team have enough guiding principles to work on: the initial 12-point understanding of last November that gave impetus to the April Uprising, the royal proclamations of 24 May, the 25-point ceasefire agreement of 26 May, the ‘Magna Carta’ itself and finally the eight-point agreement between the eight parties. Everything in the constitution of 1990 that doesn’t directly contradict any of these documents of trust remains valid until the completion and promulgation of a completely new statute by the constituent assembly.

From what we have seen of Pushpa Kamal Dahal, he sounds naïve and dogmatic. Underground leaders become extremely prickly and self-righteous and Dahal has been out of public glare for 25 years. But he has a valid point when he says Nepal can achieve development and prosperity in next decade “if the peace process becomes successful”.

The power to transform that ‘if’ into ‘when’ lies in our hands. We must not squander it by magnifying innate mistrust between unlikely partners taking halting steps towards reconciliation.

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  Maoists exert pressure on parties

THE HIMALAYAN TIMES

Tuesday, June 27,2006

KATHAMNDU: The two top rebel leaders Maoist supremo Prachanda and second in command Dr Baburam Bhattarai today conferred with Nepali Congress (NC), Nepal Sadbhavana Party (A) and NCP (United) leaders in separate meetings in the capital, thus stepping up pressure on the alliance to enforce the 8-point understanding of June 16.

The 8-point understanding demands early dissolution of the House of Representatives,an interim statute and an interim administration.

While they met NSP (A) leaders in the morning, they met Left leader Bisnu Bahadur Manandhar in the afternoon followed by a meeting with NC leaders in the evening. “We put forth our views on all the crucial issues. That includes an alternative to the House of Representatives if it is dissolved. Apart from this, the meeting was a confidence-building exercise to reach a broader national consensus among the seven parties and the Maoists,” said Nepali Congress joint-general secretary Dr Ram Baran Yadav.
Other leaders who attended the meeting were vice-president Shushil Koirala, general secretary Ramchandra Poudel, central leaders Arjun Nursingh KC, Binay Dhoj Chand and Mahesh Acharya. Dr Yadav hinted at the formation of a “Council” which would have representatives from civil society, the alliance and the Maoist as an alternative to the HoR.

Earlier in the day, Prachanda and Dr Bhattarai had presented similar views in a meeting with NSP (Anandi) leaders Bharat Bimal Yadav and Rajendra Mahato. “Of course they (Prachanda and Dr Bhattarai) are concerned about the way the 8-point understanding has come around to face criticism. They are in favour of removing inconsistencies, if any, and enforcing it in the least controversial manner,” Mahato said. The rebel leaders also wanted to know what the seven-party alliance expects to come up with what they have been referring to as an “alternate arrangement to parliament.” Mahato said that the leaders also discussed management of arms used by the Maoist militia. However, Nepal Sadbhavana Party (A) leaders said the same should be done as is being thought by the alliance which includes roping in the UN and putting the army and the militia under its civilian supervision. Mahato said the rebels are positive on the citizenship issue raised by the Nepal Sadbhavana Party (A) and the issue of going for a federal system in future.

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 Prachanda, Dr Bhattarai meet Deuba

KANTIPUR ONLINE

KATHMANDU, June 27 - CPN-Maoist chairman Prachanda met with Nepali Congress (NC-D) president Sher Bahadur Deuba at the latter’s residence in Budhanilkantha Tuesday morning. In the meeting that lasted for about 90 minutes, the Maoist supremo expressed special concern on the eight-point deal reached between the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) government and the rebels at the “Summit Talks” held in the PM residence, Baluatar on June 16. “SPA is committed to the eight-point understanding, there only is some suspicion over it due to the lack of priliminary discussion within the alliance before reaching the deal,” Deuba said answering to the Maoist chairman’s curiosity on whether SPA was trying to back off from the understanding.

In the meeting, Deuba also urged the Maoists to remain sincere to the understanding to win national and international confidence for the Constituent Assembly elections, sources said, adding that the NC-D presidentf urther opined that the rebels should stop extortion and return the property seized from various persons. “President Deuba asked the Maoist leaders to prioritize the issue of arms management,” said NC-D leader Bimalendra Nidhi after the meeting. Maoist number two Dr Babauram Bhattarai, Maoist talks team coordinator Krishna Bahadur Mahara and NC-D leader Bimalendra Nidhi were also present at the meeting.

Prachanda and Dr Bhattarai arrived in the capital on Saturday to discuss the current political developments. Prachanda and his second-in-command Dr Baburam Bhattarai - along with other Maoist leaders met with leaders of Nepali Congress (NC) and Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandidevi) yesterday. Likewise, on Sunday, the Maoist leaders had met with CPN-UML General Secretary, Madhav Kumar Nepal and chief of Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, Narayan Man Bijukchhe.

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INTERVIEW

 Maoists won’t join government until Nepal Army weapons are managed

KANTIPUR IONLINE

Kathmandu, 27 June:

“We will not join the government until weapons management.”We cannot join the interim government until the weapons of the Nepal Army and its management are clear,“Prachanda said in an interview with Janadesh, a Maoist mouthpiece.”The weapons of both armies should be managed. The country’s problem will not be resolved by the management of weapons of just one army,“Prachanda said. The weapons could be managed with the help of the United Nations, he said.”It’s difficult to amalgamate both armies before election for a constituent assembly. Weapons will be immobilized if they are kept under the supervision and monitoring by the UN,“the rebel chief suggested.”Before election for a constituent assembly, one command of both armies can be formed. This can be a subject of discussion,“he said.”The prime minister of the country can hold the command of such an army,“Prachanda suggested.”Right now, there is 25 percent doubt whether an interim government will be formed,“Prachanda said in reply to a question.”Many foreign power centers don’t like our agreement. Some leaders who move on the direction of foreign powers also don’t like the agreement.“That’s why there is an attempt at conspiracy,” the Maoist chief explained.

Prachanda ruled immediate Indian or American military intervention in Nepal. “Military intervention is impossible now. India is not in a position to intervene militarily. In the 21^st century, USA is not in a position to intervene also because of the fact that we are between two big countries, India and China.”

Prachanda added: “Nepal and the United States are not in a position in intervene in Nepal right now. Our party does not see such a possibility.”

“If India intervenes, a wave of protests against it will ignite in Asia.”If the United States intervenes, it will start a world revolution.

“We will protest against it and protests will spread all over the world. There were protests around the world at the intervention in Iraq not because Saddam was good or because the Baath party was good but because the United States intervened in an independent state.”All have understood that a party of the people is on a movement for the rights of the Nepali people.

"People have understood that the party is preparing for an election for a constituent assembly.

He accused US Ambassador James F. Moriatry of going to villages and “openly politiking”.

“There was nothing secret between me and Girija,” Prachanda said referring to his 16 June meeting in Baluwatar with the prime minister. Prachanda said this amid charges that Prachanda and Koirala reached a secret deal and their dealings were not transparent.

“The eight-point agreement should be implemented,” he said.

The Prachanda Girija meeting lasted only for 30 minutes and not two hours,.
“The main discussions were held for 10 hours with leaders of seven parties,” Prachanda said.

Prachanda claimed he only exchanged courtesies with Girija for 30 minutes.

Janadesh said the on-going consultations between Prachanda, Baburam Bhattarai and seven parties are “sending positive messages.”

Discussions are being held to form a democratic republican front, the weekly newspaper reported.