NEPAL: Third round of talks with Maoists- Not a
failure. Update 35.
by Dr. S. Chandrasekharan
The third round of talks between the Nepal Government represented by
Kamal Thapa and Dr. P.C.Lohani and the Maoists represented by Krishna
Bahadur Mahara and Dr. Baburam Bhattarai in the presence of facilitators,
took place at Nepalgunj on the first day and later in a remote village in
Dang district between 17 and 19th August. The two sides agreed
to meet again to continue the talks.
In the absence of a decisive conclusion or an official communique, the
Nepalese media made alarming reports about the talks. While one leading
newspaper described the talks as in "death bed," another
tabloid, one of six that come from Kathmandu in mid day, went to the
extent of saying that the talks have failed and that the Army is gearing
for an offensive against the Maoists immediately. There was panic in
Kathmandu for a while. Unfortunately the King was also planning to be away
in England for a medical checkup during this crucial period giving rise to
rumours that the King waned to be away after giving orders to the Army to
go for the offensive if the talks fail.
On the first day after initial pleasantries, the Government side placed
a seven page document for the consideration of the Maoists. Though the
full text of the document variously described as "reforms
package" or "political agenda, "could not be obtained, the
following points put forth by the government have come to notice.
* The document emphasised that multi party democracy, constitutional
checks and balance as well as progressive economic reforms and social
transformation are the essential features in the reforms of the state
system now proposed.
* The basis for achieving the above goal will be "protection of
sovereignty vested in the people, constitutional monarchy, multi party
democracy and national integrity and unity"
On the specifics- the document undertook to make the following
reforms that included
* Transparency in the conduct, composition, and source of funding of
the political parties.
* A more effective and autonomous Election Commission.
* Provision of an interim government to conduct elections. ( with
Maoists being part of the provisional government)
* Strengthening of the prime ministerial system of government and
rectification of the controversy over the prerogative of the prime
ministerial system of the government to dissolve the House of
Representatives.
* A National Assembly with ethnic, tribal and dalit representation in
proportion to their population.
* A minimum 25 percent reservation for women in all the
representative bodies as well as in educational, health, administration
and other employment generating institutions through amendments in the
Constitution.
Reaction:
The Maoist representatives in the talks rejected the document outright
accusing the government of trying to make "cosmetic" and not
"systemic" changes. Baburam Bhattarai was heard to have said
that the document takes care of what happened in Nepalese history in the
last twelve years and not in the last 234 years. The document according to
them was silent on the issue of restructuring the Royal Nepalese Army.
Another issue of difference was the demand of an election to a constituent
assembly.
The reaction of the political parties to the document was mixed. They
questioned the mandate of the government talks team and how the decisions
arrived at could be implemented. One of the constituents, the Peoples’
front said that the agenda fell short of the Maoist demands. Madhav
Nepal of UML opined that the agenda would in no way resolve the current
political stalemate and accused both the King and the Maoists of trying to
destroy democracy.
International reaction was however very positive. The strongest
endorsement came from the US embassy which said that they are in full
agreement with the three main points- sovereignty of the people, multi
party democracy and constitutional monarchy. The British government
welcomed the presentation of a comprehensive position by the Nepalese
government. While the Indian reaction is not yet known, the Indian
ambassador in an interview to the Press on 13 August before the beginning
of the talks opined that the Maoists should lay down their arms and come
to people to pave the way for a lasting peace in the country. Later, this
demand was also made by the government team on the last day of the talks
to the Maoists, which the latter summarily rejected.
Some positive aspects of the talks:
* It should be said to the credit of the Thapa government that they
have for the first time put forth comprehensively the governments’
position on the ongoing talks. Basically the document tried to find a
solution within the present constitution, while the Maoists insisted on
moving away from it and find a solution by redrafting the constitution by
a constituent assembly to be formed after an election. The government was
also firm in retaining the constitutional monarchy and was also silent on
the question of placing the army under the control of parliament. The
document unfortunately makes no mention of the citizen ship issue of over
45 lakhs of Terains who are still considered to be stateless.
* The document has tried to accommodate to the extent possible, the 18-
point demand made by the five agitating political parties. One of the
important demands of the Nepali Congress of placing the army under the
control of the parliament has not been acceded to. The parties also turned
down the plea of the Prime minister to join and cooperate with the
government in the ongoing talks.
* The government has also conceded two of the three major demands of
the Maoists namely- a round table conference and an interim government to
conduct the elections. It has also taken into account the demand of the
Maoists to give due representation to the weaker and other ethnic
communities in the new dispensation.
* At the beginning of the talks, the two sides signed a 17-point
understanding for the conduct of future tasks thus ensuring that the talks
will not break down despite the differences over the reforms document
placed by the government.
* At the end of talks, the two sides also agreed on a six-point agenda
for future talks. These include political issues, overall socio economic
reforms, procedure of the reforms, settlement of the armed forces and
weapons, rehabilitation of the affected people and reconstruction of the
infrastructure destroyed by the Maoists during the conflict.
* The government side did not fail to give a list of missing persons
still unaccounted for that included 215 civilians and political activists,
10 policemen and 4 each from the Royal Nepal Army and Armed Police Force.
The government wanted all of them to be released or at least have their
whereabouts made public by the Maoists.
The agitating political parties:
The agitating political parties have continued to insist on the
restoration of the constitutional process before they could cooperate with
the present government. They continued to harp on the formation of an all
party government and the reinstatement of the dissolved house as the only
means to resolve the political crisis. They claimed that the seventh phase
of their joint movement would begin next month and that would be
"decisive."
It is time that the political parties review their strategy as other
wise, they will become irrelevant in due course. G.P.Koirala’s
continuing vitriolic attacks on the King are likely to preclude any
possible compromise with the King in future as the King is still a factor
in Nepali politics.
Conclusion: The political agenda presented by the government
outlining its position makes a good beginning. Though the third
round of talks was inconclusive the very fact that the parties have agreed
to meet again showed that the differences are not irreconcilable. What is
disturbing however that there have been very serious violations of
ceasefire by both sides, but more so by the Maoists. It is also
alleged that the Maoists are continuing with their recruitment and
training of cadres in remote regions and there have been many clashes
between the Army patrols and the Maoists. This needs to be addressed
immediately if the peace process is to survive. There is still time
and political space for the King and his Prime minister to find a
compromise with the agitating political parties. Any deal with the
Maoists cannot be sustained without the active participation of the
political parties.
