Insight on Conflict » Ambika Pokhrel

Emerging movement for peace

Ambika Pokhrel — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:08:20 +0000

I did not feel safe when I travelled to Bardiya in the last week of November, 2010. Just before my journey, the district treasurer of the Nepali Congress was killed by unidentified persons on the east-west highway near the Bardiya National Park, while he was returning to his home around 6pm. I landed at nearby Nepalganj airport around 6.30pm, and then had to drive one-and-a-half hours to the district headquarters of Bardiya, at Guleriya. Just a couple of days before, two children aged 13-14 had been kidnapped for ransom near Nepalganj, and killed after the kidnappers received the ransom money. My unsafe feeling increased when I drove through the village where the kidnappers lived, as my driver suddenly told me this. Thank God! I arrived safely at the hotel where my accommodation was booked for the next four days.

Bardiya is the district of Nepal where the highest number of people disappeared during the decade-long internal armed conflict. Altogether 220 disappeared and 322 lost their lives during the conflict. The population of Baridya is 382,649, with Tharu, one of the indigenous communities, composing 99,614. Bardiya is one of the Tharu-dominated districts, along with Dang, Banke, Kailali and Kanchanpur in the western part of Nepal. Therefore these districts (along with some other parts of the country) have been claimed for a Tharuhat state/province in the new federal structure of Nepal by the Tharu communities. At the same time, most of the Madhes-based political parties have been demanding ‘one Madhes one Pradesh’ (one Madhes, one state/province), in all the lowlands of Nepal from the east to west. Tharu people have been claiming that they can not be accommodated in the Madhesi, they are Tharu, an indigenous community of Nepal, and they have been demanding a separate Tharuhat Province.

However, the people of Bardiya district have not yet healed grievances from the decade-long internal armed conflict. They fear possible unrest in the district, on account of demarcation of the future federal state. What I learnt, during my conversion with the local people and civil society members, is that they did not have any energy left to fight again, to bear the effects of conflict or to support to conflict any more. Local people and even district-level political workers did not show any enthusiasm for future conflict. They all have already suffered unbearable impacts of conflict – some lost a husband, some lost a wife, some lost a son or daughter, and even some do not yet know the whereabouts of their beloved.

I easily observed their frustration with the top political leaders of the all major political parties that they have not been delivering the promises they made to the Nepalese people. Slapping by one local cadre of Mr Jhalanath Khanal, president of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML), at a public event in Itahari, Sunshari, on 19 January, is a perfect example of the people’s frustration with the senior political leaders.

Civil society workers and local- and district-level political leaders are not staying silent or just blaming and throwing frustration at the senior political leaders: they are engaging to address the impacts of the internal armed conflict and working to prevent future unrest in the district. What I found interesting was that they meet at least once a month and discuss and talk about the actual needs of the conflict victims, in the presence of those victims. They also hand over a written statement about the victims’ needs to the relevant government authority.

Civil society activists and political workers further interact with each other about the current political situation, about the impact of central political activities in the district, and about what action should be taken to prevent the situation deteriorating. I had a chance to facilitate the interaction programme, and we particularly discussed victim justice and reparation during the transitional phase.

Their monthly meeting sometimes becomes tense, when people are divided on the issue of victims from different conflict parties – either from the government or from the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M). We have two different forums developed by the conflict victims – one is developed by victims of the CPN-M’s actions, and another is developed by victims of the government’s actions – mainly by the Nepal army, Nepal policy and the armed policy force.

The latter forum is formed by the Maoist party itself. It is unfortunate that the conflict victims are divided, particularly on ideology, even though their pain and grievances are same.

The division within conflict victims also affected the Conflict Victims Committee (CVC) working in Bardiya. Former chairperson and general secretary of CVC, Bhagiram Chaudhary and Niranjan Chaudhary respectively, were ousted from their post from CVC. Initially CVC had included all the conflict victims, regardless of victims from which conflict party. CVC has also become a victim of ideology, and Bhagiram Chaudhary and Niranjan Chaudhary were forced to quit from their posts.

However, the National Network of Disappearance Family of Nepal has been formed with initiation from Bhgiram and some other conflict victims, regardless of any ideological thoughts, and Bhagiram is secretary. What I found during my conversation with him is that his enthusiasm has not been decreased – he is even more committed to establishing peace in the country.

Of course, there are some differences and weaknesses for consolidating actions for peace in the district. People – basically civil society activists and the district/local-level political workers – have been actively engaging for addressing needs of the conflict victims and orientating people about non-violent conflict resolution methods such as dialogue, mediation and negotiation. They have been further working for preventing future unrest and future violence in the district, particularly on the issue of federalism. In addition to these activities, they have been orienting people about a non-violent movement. They don’t ignore the necessity of the movement to ensure rights of the marginalised and backward communities, therefore they have been orienting people about non-violent action.

The interaction program that I had a chance to facilitate has prepared a joint action plan for a year, between civil society activists and the district/local-level political workers. Sharing the topics we discussed in the interaction with their respected institutions, mediating conflicts in the district, holding protest programmes in non-violent ways, and supporting conflict victims for reparation, are some of their planned activities.

I could easily read on their faces their eagerness to work for peace, during the drafting of the action plan. Joint action between political workers and civil society activists is really an effective initiation for establishing peace, since division within civil society activists has been seen on ideology, and mostly youth fronts of the political parties have been in disagreement even on minor issues.

I also promised in front of them that I would share this effort with other forums, so that it can be replicated for the cause of peace.

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Nepal: change is possible!

Ambika Pokhrel — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 08:30:09 +0000

Situated some 300km east of Kathmandu, Sindhuli is a remote district of Nepal where many villages are without access or means of transportation. It was one of the first districts attacked by the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) when they initiated their ‘People’s war’ in February 1996. During the 11 years of internal armed conflict, 14 people disappeared and 221 lost their lives in Sindhali (http://www.insec.org.np/victim/reports/district.pdf). I recently had the opportunity to visit the region, and to assess how far people there have been able to rebuild their lives and communities since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in November 2006.

Despite the efforts of local people, life is still dominated by an overall lack of even basic needs: no roads, no transportation, no new sources of income, no schools, and not even drinking water. Because many people live out of the lack of access for vehicles, many people are forced to hike up to two days for services and collect drinking water and fire wood by foot, having to cover several kilometres a day. Schools in particular are suffering severely under these conditions: Mud floors, lacking windows, blackboards, shabby furniture and hair-raising hygienic conditions are common. General healthcare is as problematic, due to a the lack of a hospital, which is substituted for by only few health centres run by mostly unqualified staff, chronically underequipped, and far from accessible.

Amidst this chaos, families as the nuclear cell of society are under constant threat. A visit to one of the local families reveals the widening gaps: The father suffers from tuberculosis, has to walk a whole day and travel by bus another one to get to the only TB-hospital in Nepal, while his son is not able to help him since he moved to Saudi Arabia as a labourer. This fate is typical for young people in the rural areas, most of whom leave the country and take on low-paid jobs in India or the Middle East, seeing no future for themselves in Nepal. There is now a widespread fear of society losing a whole generation of young people. On the other hand, and in defiance of reality, political parties – and most of all the CPN-M – keep trying to raise expectations about the future.

Socially, the district is caught up in both unresolved issues and a longstanding culture of violence which evolved from the years of internal armed conflict. The former is manifest in widespread gender- and caste discrimination, with low caste people being banned from using the same wells as higher class members. But even more obvious are the deep wounds left by the war, suddenly erupting as violent clashes among villagers, even over seemingly trivial issues.

However, there is a thin ray of hope for better life in the villages. Since the signing of the peace agreement, a number of dedicated civil society- and community based organisations has been working on mitigating the climate of despair and violence. Their efforts are channelled through discussion and interaction programmes, awareness campaigns, workshops and trainings for villagers on peace, non-violence, dialogue, facilitation, mediation and negotiation, as well as the essential task of bridging the gap between state authorities and conflict victims. In addition, these activists are working on identifying the primary victims of the decade-long violent struggles and their actual needs for a return to a normal life.

In accordance with this “movement”, the people of Belghari Village Development Committee (VDC) took part in a one-day peace and human rights workshop, peacefully solving a Community Based Organsation (CBO) conflict concerning a financial transparency issue,, while workshop participants are now involved in creating awareness for issues of conflict and peace among their neighbours and family members.

In a similar manner, school teachers in Sindhuli district were provided with training on conflict, peace and human rights. As a result, 29 teachers have been actively solving problems and calling people’s attention to peace and human rights in their respected areas. In particular, they have been addressing the issue of caste discrimination, irrigation and pressing local issues.

These teachers were then enabled to train a number of students on human rights and peaceful methods of conflict resolution like mediation and negation, who were in turn able to reach out to their friends, to villagers and family members.

Although evidence of the peace activities’ anticipated effects is still rare, it is clearly noticeable that a majority of the villagers have rejected violence as a means for resolving disputes and conflicts. Moreover, people have started talking about peace and human rights – It seems like the long established culture of violence is gradually and slowly replaced by an emerging culture of peace, which, above all, calls for a sustainable and long term engagement.

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Fate of Nepal’s Peace Process!

Ambika Pokhrel — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:16:05 +0000

Nepal’s seven month-long prime ministerial election finally ended on Wednesday, 12 January 2011 when the lone PM candidate of the Nepali Congress (NC), Ram Chandra Paudel, announced the withdrawal of his candidacy shortly before the sixteenth round of voting. Paudel was running against Puspa Kamal Dahal (“Prachand”), from the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M), after the previous Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, resigned from the post in June 2010. After the seventh round of voting, Prachada withdrew his candidacy saying it was meaningless to continue to compete in an election which did not provide any result.

Please do not think that Nepalese people has got a new prime minister – Ram Chandra Paudel only withdrew his candidacy when the UCPN-M and the Communist Party of Nepal-Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML), the largest and the third largest parties in the Constituent Assembly (CA) respectively, had decided to vote against his candidacy. The decision of the NC to withdraw its candidate has enhanced the process of consensus and the unity among the political parties. It further opens the ground for a national consensus government.

However, all three of the largest parties are claiming the post of the PM. A rotation system has been also proposed by some political leaders. In fact, some of the leaders have been discussing the modality of the rotational system. People suspect that there would be conflict within the rotational system regarding who will be first to take the role and who will ensure the handover of the post after the first term has ended. Currently, all the political parties are in crises and it is hard to see how anyone can act as a guarantor for the rotational system considering the lack of trust between the parties.

On the other side, the term of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) is ended on 15 January 2011 and is preparing for its departure. This raises a major question – who will do monitoring of the arms and armies of the combatants of UCPN-M after UNMINs departure. The government of Nepal has sent four letters asking to hand over the monitoring logistics and equipment to the government within last two weeks. Indeed, the UNMIN is demanding consensus request for possible transfer of its monitoring logistics and equipment, the consensus between the government of Nepal and the UCPN-M. Indeed, the UCPN-M has been demanding term extension and the continuation of monitoring of the Nepal Army. Besides, other major political parties, mainly the NC and the CPN-UML, are not in any mood to extend the term and allow the continued monitoring of the Nepal Army. There is a speculation that violence will resume after departure of the UNMIN and the Nepalese people are very much worried about the possible unrest in the country.

Though, there is only four and half months left to declare the new constitution, the major political parties are still fighting for the post of the prime minister. The one year extension of the CA will end on 14 May 2011. Overall peace and constitution writing process is been halted for more than one year. The Nepalese people have not even a thin ray of hope to get the new constitution and the logical end of the peace process. The Nepalese people do not have options left besides just staying in silence but no one knows when this silence will burst.

Ambika Pokhrel, Nepal Local Correspondent, 13 January 2011

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Nepal: PM election and Dashain

Ambika Pokhrel — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 10:45:19 +0000

The joy and happiness of the Nepalese people during Dashain (the annual 15-day religious festivial) was ended immediately with failure to elect the new Prime Minister after the 13th round of elections in parliament.

I drove for 15 hours, from Kathmandu to my home town of Jhapa, in the very east of Nepal. During my journey opportunity to see people’s happiness during this time. I felt that peopleduring Dashain, forgot political unrest, the fragile and uncertain peace process and the unsuccessful Prime Ministerial elections. Indeed, they did not care about the 13th round of elections that was held on October 26. But when the result was published, people certainly woke up and all the happiness was wiped out within a second. I was worried during my whole trip whether this happiness would not be converted into darkness. Nepalese people are tired enough by conflict and its impacts and do not wish to happen it again in any form, in any part of the country.

Despite a five month extension of the Constituent Assembly, the task of writing a new constitution has not been resumed. The country has not yet got the new PM after 5 months, and 13 rounds of elections. Nobody knows how long this caretaker government will run the country. The major and critical tasks of the peace process and constitution making process have not yet been finalised. These include forms of governance, system of judiciary, system of election, division of the federal state, management and reintegration of the Maoist’s ex-combatants and democratization of the Nepal army. Unless, and until, political consensus is reached on these issues the new constitution will not be declared, and the peace process will not be ended logically.

During events like Dashain, the ordinary people of Nepal can divert their mind for a while and can be happy and joyful, but they can’t escape from the situation of a country that is not peaceful. Indeed, people’s happiness and joy cannot last unless the whole country is peaceful.

Ambika Pokhrel, Local Correspondent, Nepal

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When Will the Nepalese People Get a New PM?

Ambika Pokhrel — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 15:01:43 +0000

Unfortunately the seventh round of elections for the position of Prime Minister of Nepal has once more failed to produce a result. (See my previous posts for coverage of earlier rounds in this process). One change however is that the the candidate of Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M), Mr. Puspa Kamal Dahal, has declared his withdrawal from the race to be PM. Mr. Dahal has made this decision following the three-point agreement with the Chairperson of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML). The both parties have also asked the Nepali Congress (NC) to withdraw its candidacy of the PM post too. They have claimed that for the national consensus government, both parties have to withdraw their candidates for the PM post. The three-point agreement focused on a way to break the deadlock in the PM election process and the formation of the national consensus government.

The agreement drew criticisms as soon as it was published, including some by the CPN-UML party’s own senior leaders. Indeed, CPN-UML has been neutral since the beginning of the PM election advocating for national consensus government. However, the PM candidate of Nepali Congress has remained in the PM race and Nepali Congress has recently declared that it does not intend to withdraw its PM candidate. The NC has successfully completed its 12th convention. Many new faces and young leaders were elected to the party’s central committee, and the former acting president was elected president. This had created hope amongst some that the NC would come out with fresh and new energy for tackling the current deadlock.

Chairperson of the Constituent Assembly has said that only after the withdrawal of both candidates for the PM post can a new process for electing a PM be started. It is not possible to go to the new process if the one candidate remains in the PM candidate. It is noted that Mr. Dahal has only declared the withdraw of his PM candidacy, but not withdrawn formally or officially.

Different opinions exist about the PM election, after seven rounds of failed attempts. Some are advocating for amendment of the constitution to settle this problem and some are opposed to amendments, arguing that it is not the appropriate method to resolve the crisis. The interim constitution-2063 has only two provisions for formation of the government – i) consensus method and ii) majority method through voting in the parliament. The only option left is the majority method through voting in the parliament since the political parties have been unable to form the government through consensus.

The passion of the Nepalese people for the process has disappeared. The ray of hope for a logical conclusion for the peace process is very thin. I have been visiting some of the eastern parts of Nepal from the Terai/Madhesh to the hills, and I can reflect that the people are tired with the politicians’ behaviour and the dirty politics we have seen. People can only pray for no further deterioration in their own lives. I am writing this update from the Terai/Madhesh. Ordinary people are barely concerned at all with the PM election. And personally I am losing hope for a timely writing of the constitution and logical end, and pray that the 8th round of the PM election can be successful.

Ambika Pokhrel, Nepal Local Correspondent, 25 September 2010

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Nepal Peace Process at a Standstill

Ambika Pokhrel — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:50:13 +0000

‘Resignation of the Prime Minister’ – the much awaited demand of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist) was finally fulfilled on June 30, when Prime Minister Madhev Kumar Nepal submitted his resignation letter to the President, Ram Baran Yadav. The President in turn provided his consent to the resignation letter on the very same day, and asked the political parties to form a consensus government within seven days. Today is the last day for formation of the new government; and yet none of the political parties have yet reached for agreement on the consensus government.

On the one hand, the UCPN (Maoist) is claiming that the consensus government should be under its leadership on the grounds that it is the largest party in the Constituent Assembly (CA). On the other hand, the other two political parties, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML) oppose the demands of the UCPN (Maoist), saying that the first point from the May 28 three-point agreement between the three major political parties has not been implemented by the Maoist side. The first point of the agreement is about the remaining tasks of peace process, including the integration and management of the Maoist’s combatants.

CPN-UML is on the view that it has to lead the new government, claiming that NC has the President and Chairperson of the CA constitutional committee, while the UCPN (Maoist) has combatants under its control. Most of the CPN-UML leaders claim that in keeping its own military, the UCPN (Maoist) can’t lead the new government. Therefore, they are asserting that their party has to lead the new consensus government if it is to happen. If the consensus government can’t be formed, the CPN-UML has to form the majority government under its leadership. Some of the leaders are suggesting that the party has to request that the president extends the time for formation of the consensus government, and also allows for the current caretaker government until the new government is formed.

It seems that NC leaders are reluctant to lead the new government until the party’s general convention, scheduled to be held in August. Some of the leaders are suggesting that NC does not have to take the government’s leadership, arguing that it will affect the result of the party’s leadership, that has to be elected by the convention. Other leading NC figures are demanding that the NC gets leadership of the new government, since we have already experienced two parties leadership of the government, and those were UCPN (Maoist) and CPN-UML. They are claiming that it is now the turn of the NC.

All this means that, already over a month since the extension of the term of the Constituent Assembly, not a single step of progress has been made in the Nepal Peace Process. The time limit for the formation of a consensus government looks likely to end today without success. This will leave only the possibility of another majority government to follow on from the two failed majority governments of the past two years. This leaves the future of the peace process and constitution writing very uncertain indeed.

Ambika Pokhrel, Nepal Local Correspondent, 7 July 2010

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An Extension for the Constituent Assembly in Nepal, but the Problems Remain

Ambika Pokhrel — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:09:13 +0000

It is very hard to wait for news when you know that something really meaningful and important is about to happen; we in Nepal experienced this last Friday, May 28 – the last day of the two-year term for the Constituent Assembly (CA). From early morning, Constituent Members were seen on the premises; they had been asked to arrive for the 8am start of the formal session. I knew that by midnight the political parties would have to take a decision had about the term of the CA. From the morning, I was constantly checking the news and talking to people who might know more, including some members of the CA. From morning until midnight, I did not move away from the internet, phone and television for even a minute. The reason for the high tension is that the stakes are so high – there remains a really possibility of Nepal returning to violence.

Meetings and consultations between political leaders rapidly increased as the day went on. On the one hand, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN (M)) was sticking to its position that the Prime Minister Madhav Kumar should first step down, then the extension to the CA could be discussed. On the other hand, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal – Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) were also sticking to their agendas, of some sort of package deal with some of the major issues in the peace process -such as People’s Liberation Army (PLA) integration and rehabilitation, the dissolution of the paramilitary structure of the Young Communist League (YCL), and the return of seized property. All the while, the country remained hostage to what happened in the negotiations and we lived in fear that the country could return to violence at midnight.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal met President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, the Home Minister and other ministers of the cabinet. Top leaders of the major political parties were engaging in last minute efforts to break the deadlock. Finally, the major three political parties had reached three-point agreements and the session of the CA began at 11.45 pm – just 15 minutes to midnight. The three-point agreements are as follows:

We are firmly committed to consensus and cooperation to take the peace process to a logical conclusion and to immediately complete the remaining tasks of the peace process and accomplish the historic responsibility of writing a new constitution.
Though significant progress has been made toward constitution drafting process, all the works have not been completed yet. So we have agreed to extend the term of the constituent assembly by one year.
We are ready to move ahead on the basis of consensus to accomplish the above-mentioned responsibilities and works as soon as possible by forming a national consensus government. We would like to make it clear that the prime minister of the present coalition government is ready to resign as soon as possible.

Although the time of the constituent assembly has been extended for a year, the contentious issues will still have to be addressed – both between the main political parties and those inside the CA.

The most contentious points are basically between the main political parties, the UCPN (Maoists), NC and CPN-UML, and are as follows:

Implementation of the past agreements basically focusing security issues: (a) integration and rehabilitation of the PLA, (b) dissolution of the paramilitary structure of the YCL and (c) democratization of the Nepal army (the really tough one);
Power sharing: The UCPN (Maoists) is the largest party in the CA but not in the peace process and the constituent making process. That is one of the reasons why the UCPN (Maoists) has been demanding the new national government be under its leadership.

The contentious issues inside the constituent assembly are:

State restructure: The model of federalism and number of the provinces for the future federal country;
Model of the governance: Presidential vs Prime Ministerial system;
System of the judiciary.

The contentious issues inside and outside of the constituent assembly have a direct impact on the peace process and have halted both constitution making process and peace process since last year.

The three-point agreement has been already misinterpreted, before the ink has even dried. Some of the leaders of NC and CPN-UML are saying that according to the three-point agreement Prime Minister will only resign after UCPN(Maoists) has implemented the other two agreements. But the UCPN(Maoists) is claiming that Prime Minister has to resign first to make way out to do other businesses. It seems that this debate is still not resolved, and although the CA will have another year to resolve such issues, the peace process and the constitution making process remains at a standstill.

Ambika Pokhrel, Nepal Local Correspondent, 1 June 2010

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A Political Crisis in Nepal is Ahead!

Ambika Pokhrel — Wed, 19 May 2010 10:38:06 +0000

The political dynamic is changing everyday in Nepal. It is difficult to predict the likely scenario of politics considering the day to day politics. In previous posts on this blog I have included some more postive possibilities, but unfortunately politics in Nepal seems to be developing a worse case scenario.

The major political parties–UCPN-Maoist, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML have all hardened their positions. They have asserted their conditions for either changing the government or for extending the Constituent Assembly term.

The CPN-UML has asserted that there are six conditions put before the UCPN-Maoist for the formation of a national consensus government, and these conditions also deserve support from the Nepali Congress (NC) party:

Immediate beginning of the process of integration and rehabilitation of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA – the army of CPN-M) and bringing the PLA under the control of the government’s special committee and categorizing them into separate cantonment for the purpose of integration and rehabilitation;
Finalizing the exact number of the PLA who want to integrate in the security forces;
Disbanding of the paramilitary structure of the Maoist Young Communist League (YCL);
Returning the seized property during the insurgency;
Formation of the state restructure commission, disappearance commission and truth and reconciliation commission; and
Finalizing the structure and power sharing of the national consensus government.

On the other hand the UCPN-Maoist has put forward two conditions before the ruling parties for extending the time of the Constituent Assembly which will expire on May 28. Those are:

Dissolving of the government; and
Returning to the politics of the consensus (amendment to the Interim Constitution replacing the current majority system with the previous consensus system for sharing power and conducting state business).

Besides asserting the conditions, the UCPN-Maoist have cancelled their planned programmes including nationwide training to the Maoist cadres from May 18 and mass meeting in Kathmandu on May 25 May. In addition to these, the party has warned that it will make public the “people’s federal democratic constitution” on May 29 on the occasion of the Republican Day.

In the light of the conditions advocated by the major political parties, it is also likely that the term of the Constituent Assembly may not be extended. This indicates the worse case scenario in which the political crisis will be deepen and the probability of returning to violence becomes higher.

In case the time of the Constituent Assembly is not extended, Nepal may become the ‘failed state’ that many people already warned about.

Ambika Pokhrel, Nepal Local Correspondent, 18 May 2010

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Continuing Uncertainty in Nepal

Ambika Pokhrel — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:12:34 +0000

The ‘indefinite general strike’ called by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) recently ended, after 6 days. The strike followed the mass rallies and meetings on the occasion of the Labor Day on May 1st. It is suspected that more than one hundred thousand people, especially youths, were brought to Kathmandu from the different parts of the country to celebrate the Labor Day and for the general strike. The UCPN-M were forced to withdraw the strike because of rising unpopularity and criticisms. The criticisms were especially strong from EU countries and the people of Kathmandu. The party has previously been organizing demonstrations against the President’s move to reinstate the then army chief and demanding formation of the new government under its leadership. This time their demand was only concentrated resignation of the Prime Minister.

The UCPN-M not only withdrew the general strike but indirectly claimed that the indefinite general strike had not been done the proper way or at the right time. The chairperson of the Maoist party, Prachanda, has apologized in the interaction programme with the intellectuals and the citizens of Kathmandu, especially for the speech during the strike in which the middle class people of Kathmandu were targeted, when it was stated that the “neat and clean urbanites humiliated the shabbily-dress and dirty rural folks”. The Maoists party thought that the middle class people of Kathmandu did not support to the strike and engaged to the activities to defy the strike. The party itself has realized that its popularity and support from Kathmandu has decreased.

Meetings and talks among the political parties have been resumed after the strike. Nepali Congress (NC), one of the ruling parties, is very notably holding meetings with the Maoists party at various levels, including with senior leaders. The meetings and the talks are surrounded among the major issues –

extension of the Constituent Assembly term;
People’s Liberation Army (PLA – army of the CPN-M) integration and rehabilitation and;
power sharing (formation of a national consensus government).

The NC and CPN-UML are also raising other issues including dismantled of the semi-armed structure of the YCL (Young Communist League-a youth organization of the Maoists) and return of the captured properties. Meanwhile, NC has asked for a clear roadmap and plan for the PLA integration and rehabilitation to the Maoists including the number of PLA to integrate in the security forces given the two days timeframe.

However, the deadlock of the political development is not only PLA integration and rehabilitation but also down sizing and democratization of the Nepal army as laid out in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). There are currently about one hundred thousand Nepal soldiers in Nepal. Unless these issues are solved then the constitution making process will always be in the shadows. These issues have been dominating the peace process and constitution-making process since the beginning.

It seems that the UCPN-M has shown flexibility for negotiation by calling off an indefinite general strike. The party already showed indication of flexibility for negotiation forwarding three main points:

YCL barracks are removed within 4-5 days;
those who want to integrate in the security forces and those who want to integrate in society are separated in the different camps within a month; and
to complete integration process within four months.

These above indicate that the UCPN-M is losing negotiation power after the recent indefinite general strike. In the mean time NC and CPN-UML are showing their willingness to negotiate to address the current political deadlock. It clearly shows that the new constitution will not be written within timeframe that is May 14. Therefore, settlement of the current political deadlock through negotiation among the political parties should be before this time.

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No Hope for making the new Constitution!

Ambika Pokhrel — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:12:26 +0000

With only 36 days left until the deadline for a the new constitution, all political parties opined that it looks impossible to complete it by 28 May 2010. The Constituent Assembly (CA) term extension is the dominating issue these days in the Nepalese politics, each of the three major political parties have different positions. Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M), the largest political party in the CA has demanded leadership in the new government before the extension of the CA term, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML) has proposed extending the CA term and some of the leaders of Nepali Congress (NC) have proposed for extension while some others have expressed a wish for elections for fresh mandate after May 28.

Some legal and constitutional experts have expressed their views that extension of the CA term is unconstitutional, claiming that the CA should be automatically dissolved after May 28. While some other experts have expressed that the CA term can be extended on the ground that the mandate for CA lasts until the creation of the new constitution. However, those who are against for extending the term are not proposing any options for way out after May 28.

The provision of term of the CA in the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007 is:
“Unless dissolved earlier pursuant to a resolution passed by the Constituent Assembly, the term of the Constituent Assembly shall be two years after the date on which the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly is held. … … … Provided that if the making of constitution cannot be completed by the reason of the proclamation of as State of Emergency in the country, the Constituent Assembly may, by a resolution to that effect, extend its term for an additional period not exceeding six months.”

With uncertainty over whether a new constitution will exist by the May 28 deadline, the political parties have at least started listening to each other to minimize differences and to avert possible crises. The meeting of the High level Political Mechanism (HLPM), represented by the three major political parties took place on Wednesday, April 21 and agreed to move ahead with consensus and discussed the possibility of breaking the deadlock through a “package deal” of contentious issues. Proposed by the UCPN-Maoist, the package deal will incorporate all major issues associated with the peace process and the new constitution including formation of the new government, integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants, structure of the federation, and the forms of governance in the new constitution. The UCPN-Maoists has asserted its position that it would not agree to extend the CA term unless the current government resigned. The meeting concluded only reaching an agreement to discuss the package deal in the next meeting on Saturday, April 24.

The recent, and ongoing, armed training by the Maoists party to their cadres in different parts of the country has raised serious concern and drew criticisms In the HLPM meeting, NC and CPN-UML have demanded military training stop as a condition of discussing the package deal. Some ministers of the both parties also claimed that the training and demonstration have violated the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Maoist leaders however said that the training is not armed but a part of regular physical exercise conducted to keep their cadres active and physically fit. The general population is also worried about the activities of the Maoists raising question about security.

In fact the Nepalese people have not in the mood to go for more elections, just two years after the last vote was held, to a CA that has yet to deliver it’s core responsibility and draft a new constitution. The people have not yet lost the hope for a logical end of the peace process even though frustration towards the political parties has been raised everyday.

Posted by Ambika Pokhrel, Local Correspondent for Nepal, 22 April 2010

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