Maoists want package before integration, rehab

REPUBLICA

KATHMANDU, Oct 13: The UPCN (Maoist) has linked the peace process with constitution writing and government formation, saying that there should be a package deal on these matters at a political level before formally starting the process of integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants.

The Maoist move is likely to break the recent momentum in the peace process, especially in forwarding the process of combatants management, and delay the much-awaited start to integration and rehabilitation of over 19,000 Maoist army personnel.

As per the September 13 agreement and a decision of the Special Committee on September 17, the process should have kicked in by now so that the peace process could be concluded basically before January 14 and within the last term of UNMIN which has less than 100 days left to run.

“It will not be acceptable for us to see one foot to go forward and the other lag behind,” Maoist leader Janardan Sharma, who is also a former peace minister, said.

In saying so, Sharma meant that the process of integration and rehabilitation has been moved forward a lot while there has been no progress in the constitution-writing process.

Sharma, a member of the Special Committee for supervision, integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants, said that the drafting of a new constitution by the Constituent Assembly should be guaranteed and the key issues related to constitution drafting resolved before the process is started.

Maoist army commanders had recently suggested to their party leadership to ensure the drafting of a new statute before they are brought formally under the government-formed Special Committee.

On Tuesday, UCPN (Maoist) representatives on the Special Committee formally told the Committee meeting that there should be a package deal on the peace process, constitution drafting and the formation of a new government, including an end to the deadlock over the prime minister´s election, before advancing the process of integration and rehabilitation any further, said Peace and Reconstruction Minister Rakam Chemjong, an invitee member on the Committee.

As the Maoists sought the package deal at the meeting of the Special Committee Tuesday afternoon, the Committee has authorized Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to hold talks with top leaders of major parties, including the UCPN (Maoist), on the fresh Maoist demands.

In this connection, Prime Minister Nepal is meeting the UCPN (Maoist) on Wednesday to discuss the Maoist demands, said a source close to the prime minister.

“If the meeting [between Dahal and Nepal] does not result in a breakthrough, the prospect of starting the process of integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants in the near future will be very slim,” the source told Republica, preferring to remain unnamed.

A meeting of the Special Committee on October 2 had formed a taskforce comprising Committee members Barsha Man Pun, Dr Ram Sharan Mahat and Ishwar Pokharel to sort out differences on issues related to integration and rehabilitation of the combatants, who have been living in cantonments since their verification by the United Nations in 2007.

The taskforce could not progress further with its mandate after the UCPN (Maoist) linked the peace process with the package deal, said Minister Chemjong.

A source said that the Special Committee is likely to meet on Thursday if the meeting between Dahal and Nepal culminates in a breakthrough.