Govt, Maoists agree to send joint letter

Himalayan News Service

KATHMANDU: The government and UCPN-Maoist have reached an understanding to send a common letter regarding UN Mission in Nepal’s tenure and jurisdiction to the UN Security Council by tomorrow.

A meeting held between Maoist leaders and government ministers at former’s Parliamentary Party office today concluded with a decision to send a joint letter to United Nations on Monday, a source privy to the discussion told The Himalayan Times.

Minister for Home Affairs Bhim Rawal and Minister for Culture Minendra Rijal had represented the government side, whereas Vice-chair Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Steering Committee ember

Barsha Man Pun and politburo member Janardhan Sharma represented the UCPN-M.

Emerging form an hour-long talk, Shrestha told reporters that the two sides had agreed in principle to forward a common letter clearly mentioning UNMIN’s future presence with existing mandate — monitoring both UCPN-M combatants and Nepali Army — for another six months.

Rawal, however, told mediapersons that they were yet to reach a final agreement on how to address the woes of the Nepali Army stemming from UNMIN supervision.

Last week, the government and UCPN-M had sent separate letters to the UN Security Council regarding UNMIN’s jurisdiction. This forced international communities and diplomats to pressure both parties to send a joint letter.

Taking to THT, Rijal confirmed that they had agreed to send a joint letter but were yet to reach an agreement on the content of the letter. “We have left it on Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to decide,” he said, adding they were yet to decide whether UNMIN will remain here for four or six month.

PM’s Chief Political Adviser Raghuji Panta said the government had sought written commitment from UCPN-M on five points regarding the problems facing national army, if the current mandate remains intact. They include supply of logistic support to the Nepali Army, fresh recruitment against NA vacancies, supply of arms and ammunition to NA for regular training and time-bound implementation of all component of the peace process.

The PM also held discussions with the leaders of the Tarai-based parties supporting the government regarding a joint letter to the United Nations pertaining to UNMIN’s terms of reference on the basis of consensus. During the meeting at his official residence, management of the Nepali Army and purchasing logistics for the NA also figured.

Meanwhile, the government is all set to send a strong objection letter to the statement given by UNMIN Chief Karin Landgren during her briefing to the UN Security Council meeting on September 7.

A source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they were working on the draft of the letter. The PM had discussed in detail Landgren’s statement on Thursday with senior officials from MoFA and concluded it as objectionable.

In the second paragraph of her statement to the Security Council, Landgren had mentioned that the term of the CA was extended for a year due to “an 11th-hour threat of revolt within the third-largest party, the CPN-UML”.