Nepal’s seven-party alliance government and the Maoist rebels are close to a peace deal with both the sides agreeing on 95 percent of political issues, writes Ameet Dhakal on The Kathmandu Post.
Here is the full report published on Friday’s issue of the Post:
Nepali Congress (NC) and Maoist leaders are busy giving the finishing touches to political agreements reached and are narrowing their differences over the issue of arms management. 
The NC and Maoists leaders held a crucial meeting Wednesday to sharpen their understandings on political issues reached during the last summit talks. One political leader involved in the meeting said they have reached agreement on almost 95 percent of the political issues and have even documented this.

On monarchy

The leaders have agreed that the fate of the monarchy will be decided by the first meeting of the constituent assembly. However, the documented agreement doesn’t say whether the decision will be  by a simple or a two-third majority. Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai said that a simple majority of the constituent assembly would take the decision. Though the CPN-UML was insisting on a referendum to decide the issue, one of its leaders said it would not insist on that should the rest of the parties reach a consensus.

NC, UML, Maoists to get ‘almost equal’ seats in 300-member interim legislature

The interim legislative body will have 300 members. NC, UML and the Maoists will have “almost equal” number of members. Currently, the NC has 75 seats in the House of Representatives and the upper house combined while the UML has 73. The Maoists are likely to get the same number of seats in the interim legislative as the UML.        
The major political parties will re-nominate all sitting lawmakers in the incumbent House of Representatives and the National Assembly. They will also nominate some of the senior Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) leaders who are not in the present parliament, but  sitting lawmakers who supported “regression” will not be nominated to the interim legislative body. The interim legislature  will be automatically dissolved after the first meeting of the constituent assembly.      

23-member interim cabinet,  5 ministries each to NC, UML, Maoists  

The interim cabinet will have about 23 members. Excluding the prime minister, the NC, UML and Maoists will get five ministries each. NC (D) will get 3 to 5 ministries. The rest will be divided among other parties. The division of portfolios hasn’t been fully discussed yet.    

425-member constituent assembly

The Constituent Assembly (CA) will have 425 seats. The CA election will be of mixed proportionate type. 205 members in the CA will be directly elected from the existing constituencies, another 204 will be nominated by the political parties in proportion to the popular votes they garner during the CA polls. For the 204 seats, the leaders have agreed to consult election experts if double ballot polling would be a better alternative. The prime minister will nominate the remaining 16 members. The CA will also function as the legislature for about two years until full fledged parliamentary elections takes place. 

On CA polls, the Maoists and the UML had favored a proportionate system but the NC wanted a direct vote. In the end a compromise was reached with mixed proportionate elections.  

King’s property to be nationalized

Dr Shekhar Koirala, one of the key NC negotiators, said the NC and the Maoists have also reached and documented a crucial agreement on the issue of royal property. According to him, property that belonged to the late King Birendra and his family will be put under a trust, and it will be used for welfare activities. The property inherited by King Gyanendra by virtue of ascending the throne will be nationalized. However, the king’s personal property will remain with him. This means properties like Narayanhiti Palace and Nagarjuna Palace will become national property while shares in Hotel Soaltee and the like will remain with the king’s family. Similarly, the leaders have also agreed that the two daughters of the late Princess Shruti will get some share of the late King Birendra’s property. However, this agreement has not been documented.
Citizenship issue

On the citizenship issue, the NC and the Maoists are on the same page while the UML has a slightly different take. The NC and Maoists want all those born in Nepal before 1990 or have been residing in Nepal since then to be eligible for Nepali citizenship. The UML wants 1979, the year of the national referendum, as the cut off year. “But that’s not a big issue and an agreement will be reached without any difficulty,” said a UML leader.

When asked if it was true that the aforementioned political agreement had been reached, Dr. Bhattarai said, “We haven’t exactly sealed the deal but what you said is true.”

But there is one caveat to the above agreement: All the parties have agreed to these political deals provided they will be part of a comprehensive package that will address the arms issue. Both Dr Bhattarai and Dr Koirala said this agreement will have no meaning if the parties and the Maoists fail to agree on the issue of arms management.
Arms management still tricky

The NC and Maoist negotiators have not made any tangible progress on the technicalities of arms management. The only thing they have agreed after the last summit talks is to form a Commission (or a Committee) under the cabinet that will work on the issues of reform in the Nepali Army, integration of the rebels into the national army and rehabilitation of the remaining combatants. 

But there seems to be growing confidence that they can reach an agreement. Dr Koirala said, “Talks on the issue are also very positive.” Asked when the country should expect a breakthrough, he said, “We have agreed that we should start a new political calendar by the first of Mangsir (November 17) but I expect a breakthrough much earlier than that, possibly by next week.”

When asked about the possibility of a comprehensive agreement, Dr Bhattarai said, “We have agreed that the interim government should be in place by mid-November.”

At a time when all dogs across Nepal were worshiped and garlanded and offered delicious food, some cruel municipality staff in Dailekh in the mid-western Nepal were busy in poisoning stray dogs to death in the Narayan Municipality area.   
Is violence still inherent in Nepalis’ character?
Read more in this news report by HARIHARSINGH RATHOUR on ekantipur
DAILEKH, Oct 22 - When dogs elsewhere were getting gentle caresses from humans and were being fed delicacies, the stray dogs of Narayan Municipality area in Dailekh district were being hounded by a cruel fate.
After municipality staff began poisoning the stray dogs to death on the first day of Tihar and even into Kukur Tihar–the second day of the second greatest Nepalese festival –the otherwise indifferent locals could not remain unmoved.  On the second day of Tihar, dogs in Nepal are adorned with flower garlands around the neck and red tika on the forehead. They are then offered a great meal and then ritually worshipped.
“Appalled by the merciless despatching of the dogs by the drunken municipality sweepers, local women hurried indoors to avoid the sorry spectacle,” said Nanda Bahadur Shrestha, who owns a radio repair stall at Purano bazaar.
According to him, the sweepers killed 23 dogs the previous day. “On Kukur Tihar also, they gave poisoned meat to the dogs and mercilessly hammered the already unconscious animals to death, just as on the previous day.” Altogether, five dozen of them were killed in the two days.
As municipality staff were busy loading the dead and dying dogs unto a tractor, the locals felt quite uncomfortable about such doings during Tihar time. Dambar Thapa, proprietor of a medical dispensary, said that rabies could be contracted as the number of  passers-by bitten by dogs had increased lately.
However, no such cases have been diagnosed so far even as the slaughter of stray dogs was being carried out for fear of the disease. The District Hospital also confirmed this.
The municipality had issued a public notice a week ago informing the locals to keep their pet dogs inside their houses. “But we didn’t give any order to kill the stray dogs on  Kukur Tihar,” said Nirak Rawal, a junior official at the municipality.
After the killing of stray dogs on the very first day evoked wide condemnation, Birendra Dev Bharati, executive officer at the municipality, had given directives to do the killing only after the festival. But as soon as he left to celebrate Tihar, the inebriated sweepers were found roaming the localities armed with poison bottles and pieces of meat.
And now, passers-by have been compelled to cover their noses, as the canine carcasses have been dumped at a stream along the main road near a local campus.

The summit talks between the seven-party alliance and the Maoists ended inconclusively Sunday after both the sides failed to reach agreement on arms management and future of the king in the interim period.
Though the leaders of both sides have said they needed enough time to accomplish adequate homework  , serious differences surfaced between the SPA and the Maoists on several political issues including arms management, have result in the postponement of the summit talks.  
Both the sides are rigid on their respective stances.
The SPA wants Maoist lay down their arms before the constituent assembly (CA) elections [ the govt even wants the rebels give up their weapons before joining interim govt.] so as to ensure free and fair elections, while the Maoists say they wouldn’t disarm unless the nation heads for a democratic republican setup.
Even the major issues of the talks are the question restructuring of the 90,000-strong Nepali Army (NA) and 35,000-strong People’s Liberation Army. It is expected to take much time to resolve these issues. The Maoists leaders allege that the talks process, which was moving towards a positive direction, was deadlocked because of the royalists’ influence in some parties of the SPA.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala told Maoists to agree to put all their weapons in UN supervised lock-ups before joining the interim government. 
PM Koirala has always pushed for complete separation of weapons from combatants.
The Maoists told the SPA that they were ready to separate weapons from half of their combatants in the beginning and settle the rest gradually under UN supervision. 
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala would call the next round of talks after consulting with other political parties “soon.”

By SURESH NATH NEUPANE

The Maoist rebels are all set to hammer out a peace deal with the ruling seven parties’ coalition government in a historic summit talks scheduled to be held on Sunday.

The fourth session of the second round of high-level peace talks that began a week ago and scheduled to resume Sunday is likely to sort out several contentious political issues that include, among others, an interim government, modalities of constituent assembly elections, position of the monarch, arms management and an interim legislature.
The much-awaited talks is also likely to finalize the incomplete draft interim constitution which was submitted by the interim constitution drafting panel in August leaving several political issues to the SPA and Maoists to settle by themselves.
If Sunday’s peace talks settle all the contentious issues, it will open the door for the Maoists to join the interim government.

“The talks have so far been conducted in a cordial environment and are heading in a positive direction,” says Maoist second-in-command Dr. Baburam Bhattarai.
He said that the Maoists have stressed on the much talked about “package deal”, which includes all the prickly political issues. “If an agreement is reached on these issues, the government-Maoist talks will achieve a political way out.” Read the rest of this entry »

कृष्ण अधिकारी

माओवादीले कब्जा गरेको र्सवसाधारणको जग्गा उनीहरूलाई नै फिर्ता गर्ने भनी सात दलसँग केन्द्रमा पटकपटक भएको सहमति बर्दियामा माओवादीका स्थानीय नेताका लागि टाउको दुखाइ बनेको छ । केन्द्रका विरुद्ध बोल्न उनीहरू सक्तैनन् तर बन्दुकको भरमा कब्जा गरिएको हजारौँ बिघा जग्गा त्यसै छोड्न पनि तिनलाई मन छैन । उनीहरू अनेक बहाना बनाएर आलटाल गर्ने, देखावटी रूपमा एकदुई जनालाई जग्गा दिएजस्तो पनि गर्ने, मानिसहरू साँच्चै जग्गामा बस्न आए भने तर्साउने, धम्क्याउने र आतङ्कित पार्ने, गाउँमा टिक्न नदिने र जसरी पनि जग्गा भोगचलन गरिरहने रणनीति लिएर अघि बढिरहेका देखिन्छन् ।

जग्गा फिर्ता गर्नेबारे केन्द्रीय तहमा सहमति भएको नौ महिनापछि बल्ल गत साउन १२ गते बर्दियामा माओवादी र सात दलबीच पार्टीकार्यकर्ताको कब्जा गरिएको जग्गा फिर्ता गर्ने र विस्थापितहरूलाई ससम्मान घर फर्काउने भनी सहमति भयो । तर सोही सहमतिका आधारमा मोतिपुरस्थित आफ्नो घर फर्किएका काङ्ग्रेसी कार्यकर्ता सुशील ज्ञवालीको भदौ १ गते माओवादी कार्यकर्ताले हत्या गरे । सुशील हत्याकाण्डको विरुद्ध हजारौँ जनता सडकमा उत्रिए र माओवादीको विरोधमा खनिए । वर्षौंसम्म आतङ्कित बनाएर राखेका जनता आफ्नै विरुद्ध सशक्त ढङ्गले सडकमा उत्रेपछि उनीहरू स्तब्ध भए । त्यसपछि जनतालाई तर्साउन उनीहरूले सात दललाई चर्को गाली गरे । माओवादीका स्थानीय नेता अथकले त युद्धविराम नै भङ्ग गर्नेसम्मको चेतावनी दिए । उक्त घटनाका सम्बन्धमा सात दलले माफी नमागेसम्म वार्तामा पनि नबस्ने बताउँदै माओवादीहरू अहिले ढुक्कसँग बसेका छन् । त्यतिन्जेलसम्म कब्जा गरिएका जग्गा फिर्ता गर्ने र विस्थापितहरूलाई घर फर्काउने कुरो थन्किएकाले उनीहरूको टाउको दुखाइ केही हलुका भएको छ । बर्दियामा एमालेका उपसचिव हरि ज्ञवाली भन्छन् “सहमति कार्यान्वयनको कुरो अहिले टाढा पुगेको छ ।” Read the rest of this entry »

कृष्ण अधिकारी

नेपालगन्ज, २५ असोजः बन्दुक बोकेर सशस्त्र युद्धमा लडेका माओबादी जनसेनाहरु कुचो र कोदालो लिएर सरसफाई अभियानमा लागेका छन् । माओवादीको नगर परिषद नेपालगन्जको आयोजनामा शुरु गरिएको सरसफाई अभियानमा माओवादीका जनमुक्ति सेनाहरु कुचो र कोदालो लिएर लागेका हुन् ।

सरसफाइ अभियानमा माओवादीको जनमुक्ति सेना, पार्टी सत्ताका कार्यकर्ताहरु विभिन्न समूह बनाई नेपालगन्ज नगरमा खटिएका छन् । माओवादीका जनमुक्ति सेना विजय, बन्दुक बोक्ने हातमा कुचो र फरुवा बोक्दा युद्ध बिराम पछि आफ्नो भुमिका बद्लिएको बताउनुहुन्छ - हामी जनताको हितको निमित्त सबै कुरा गर्र्छौं । अहिले कुचो र कोदालो बोकेर जनताको हित हुने देखेर यस अभियानमा लागेका छौं।

चार सय भन्दा बढी जनमुक्ति सेनाहरु खटिएको माओवादीको घोराही सतबरिया ब्रि्रेड कमिसार साकारले बताउनु भयो । उहाँ भन्नु हुन्छ - हाम्रो जनमुक्ति सेना जनताको सेवाको लागि हो, जनतालाई आवश्यक पर्‍यो भने बन्दुक बोक्न पनि तयार हुन्छ । तर यो सधैको लागि बन्दुक बोक्ने सेना भने होइन, जनताको सेवा गर्ने सेना हो । उहाँले जनमुक्ति सेना रक्षाको लागि मात्र होइन राष्ट्रिय र समाजको सेवाको लागि सधै निर्माण भएको बताउनु भयो । माओवादी कार्यकर्ता विपना आफुलाई नगर सरसफाई गर्दा जनताको सहयोग पाइने, शहर पनि राम्रो हुने र आफुलाई पनि राम्रो लाग्दो रहेछ । अहिले नेपालगन्जका सडकहरुमा कुचो लगायत सरसफाई गर्ने, नालीहरु सफा गर्न माओवादीका जनमुक्ति सेना लगायत कार्यकर्ताहरु खटिएर लागेका छन् । सरसफाई अभियानमा लाग्दा जनताको सहयोग र हौसला समेत पाएको माओवादीका बाँके सेक्रेटरी हिमालले बताउनु भयो ।

जनआन्दोलनको क्रममा वैशाख ५ गते भत्काइएको राजा ज्ञानेन्द्रको शालिकको भग्नावशेष समेत हर्टाई सोही ठाऊमा जनआन्दोलमा सहिद भएकी सेतु विकके शालिक  निर्माण  गरिने माओवादी जनाएको छ ।

The issue of arms management has created a deadlock in the ongoing peace talks between the seven-party alliance (SPA) government and the Maoist rebels, with both sides failing to reach a concrete conclusion.
“The peace talks are “stuck” on the subject of managing the rebels’ arms,” ekantipur journalist Suresh Nath Neupane quoted a minister on condition of anonymity.
Though the SPA and Maoists reached an agreement to hold the constituent assembly elections by mid-June next year, during Tuesday’s high-level talks held at Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s official residence at Baluwatar, several issues still need to be sorted out.
The government wants the Maoists to give up their weapons before joining the interim government in order to assure that the rebels do not have an army when they are in the interim administration, while the Maoists have expressed “strong dissatisfaction” over the SPA’s proposal.
“The Maoists have agreed to put their arms and armies in the temporary cantonment, verify their arms and be put under UN monitoring but the government has insisted that their (Maoist) weapons should be removed after verification and put under supervision,” the minister said.
see full article: http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=88261