Kathmandu - Nepal's political crisis reached new heights Saturday as it became clear that the day's deadline to write a new constitution would go unmet.
A new charter was part of a 2006 peace agreement that ended a decade-long conflict between Maoist rebels and the government. An initial deadline was set for May 28, 2010, after a Constituent Assembly was elected in 2008.
The deadline was extended last year when power struggles delayed the process. Little progress has been made since, and there is no consensus on key questions, such as a system of governance, elections and whether to organize the country under a federal system based on ethnic groups or by geography.
Last week, the government decided to seek an extension of the Constituent Assembly term by another year. However, the bill was held up in the assembly as the opposition Nepali Congress and fringe parties obstructed the proceedings.
As the deadline to write the charter neared, integration of former Maoist rebels into the army and society figured as a key barrier to the extension. The parties have been at loggerheads over the 19,000 former combatants, confined to UN-supervised camps after the civil war.
'We are demanding dependable basis for the term extension of the Constituent Assembly,' said Mahanta Thakur, chairman of Terai Madhes Lokatantrik Party, a party based in Nepal's plains. It said the Maoists must first give up their weapons.
'We cannot accept an extension in the present circumstances,' Thakur said.
As political squabbling delayed integration, the UN Mission in Nepal withdrew in January, saying it had been made a 'scapegoat' by politicians for Nepal's political problems and expressing frustration with the pace of the peace process.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern Monday.
'It is now more than ever incumbent upon the key political actors to show leadership and carry out necessary compromises to preserve the peace process and complete the drafting of the new constitution,' Ban said.
But the call for compromise failed to break the impasse.
'We have made no progress after talking all day,' Nepali Congress leader Ram Saran Mahat said as he emerged from talks late Friday. 'The other side has backed out, and the meeting was a disappointment.'
The two main parties in the parliament, the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist, were demanding that the Maoists hand over the arms in their camps to the government as a condition to extend the constitutional deadline.
The Maoists said such a move would be tantamount to surrender and insisted they would only hand over arms when the army integration happens.
'If you are thinking we will part with arms, it won't be easy,' Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said in Kathmandu Friday. 'We will become martyrs but will not abandon the battleground.'
If the deadline expires Saturday without an agreement, the Himalayan country would be left without a parliament and would descend further into political turmoil.
'If the Constituent Assembly is dissolved, we have extremely volatile politics ahead as we'll have no legitimate elected body,' said Akhilesh Upadhyaya, editor of The Kathmandu Post.
Fighting among political parties already had caused a delay in last year's budget and the selection of a prime minister, leaving the country without a premier for seven months.
Protracted political crises have worsened the lives of citizens as they face energy shortfalls and a faltering economy. Nepal has seen a series of protests in the past few weeks as people grow increasingly dissatisfied with their leaders.
'There could be a multidimensional conflict in the country as the ethnic groups are likely to become more strident in their demand for autonomous states,' Upadhyaya said.
'If the centre is delegitimized,' the editor said, 'anarchy booms, and it would impact Nepal's national security.'
A new charter was part of a 2006 peace agreement that ended a decade-long conflict between Maoist rebels and the government. An initial deadline was set for May 28, 2010, after a Constituent Assembly was elected in 2008.
The deadline was extended last year when power struggles delayed the process. Little progress has been made since, and there is no consensus on key questions, such as a system of governance, elections and whether to organize the country under a federal system based on ethnic groups or by geography.
Last week, the government decided to seek an extension of the Constituent Assembly term by another year. However, the bill was held up in the assembly as the opposition Nepali Congress and fringe parties obstructed the proceedings.
As the deadline to write the charter neared, integration of former Maoist rebels into the army and society figured as a key barrier to the extension. The parties have been at loggerheads over the 19,000 former combatants, confined to UN-supervised camps after the civil war.
'We are demanding dependable basis for the term extension of the Constituent Assembly,' said Mahanta Thakur, chairman of Terai Madhes Lokatantrik Party, a party based in Nepal's plains. It said the Maoists must first give up their weapons.
'We cannot accept an extension in the present circumstances,' Thakur said.
As political squabbling delayed integration, the UN Mission in Nepal withdrew in January, saying it had been made a 'scapegoat' by politicians for Nepal's political problems and expressing frustration with the pace of the peace process.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern Monday.
'It is now more than ever incumbent upon the key political actors to show leadership and carry out necessary compromises to preserve the peace process and complete the drafting of the new constitution,' Ban said.
But the call for compromise failed to break the impasse.
'We have made no progress after talking all day,' Nepali Congress leader Ram Saran Mahat said as he emerged from talks late Friday. 'The other side has backed out, and the meeting was a disappointment.'
The two main parties in the parliament, the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist, were demanding that the Maoists hand over the arms in their camps to the government as a condition to extend the constitutional deadline.
The Maoists said such a move would be tantamount to surrender and insisted they would only hand over arms when the army integration happens.
'If you are thinking we will part with arms, it won't be easy,' Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said in Kathmandu Friday. 'We will become martyrs but will not abandon the battleground.'
If the deadline expires Saturday without an agreement, the Himalayan country would be left without a parliament and would descend further into political turmoil.
'If the Constituent Assembly is dissolved, we have extremely volatile politics ahead as we'll have no legitimate elected body,' said Akhilesh Upadhyaya, editor of The Kathmandu Post.
Fighting among political parties already had caused a delay in last year's budget and the selection of a prime minister, leaving the country without a premier for seven months.
Protracted political crises have worsened the lives of citizens as they face energy shortfalls and a faltering economy. Nepal has seen a series of protests in the past few weeks as people grow increasingly dissatisfied with their leaders.
'There could be a multidimensional conflict in the country as the ethnic groups are likely to become more strident in their demand for autonomous states,' Upadhyaya said.
'If the centre is delegitimized,' the editor said, 'anarchy booms, and it would impact Nepal's national security.'
No comments:
Post a Comment