ID :
29649
Tue, 11/11/2008 - 17:35
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/29649
The shortlink copeid
Cooperation among Nepal political parties "critical": UN envoy
New York, Nov 11 (PTI) Cooperation among Nepal's key political parties remains "critical" for the success of the peace process, which faces deadlock on issues like integration of the former Maoist combatants, the top UN envoy to the country has said.
The unresolved issue of combatants still remains "very
important and quite difficult" for the United Nations Mission in Nepal although its mandate is even more limited following Constituent Assembly elections, Special Representative in Nepal Ian Martin told a news conference on Monday.
The peace agreement, which ended a decade-long civil war between Maoists and the then-government that claimed an estimated 13,000 lives, provides for a committee of all major political parties, including the Neplalese Congress which went into opposition after the formation of the Maoist-led Government, to integrate and rehabilitate Maoist army combatants.
"The Government has announced the establishment of the
special committee and indeed the Secretary-General welcomed
that during his visit [earlier this month], but there is still
a negotiation going on regarding both its composition and its
terms of reference before the Nepali Congress is willing
to nominate representation to participate," Martin said.
Martin, who briefed the Security Council on Friday,
said the country is going through "a very profound
transformation" from what he experienced in 2005, when he
arrived to the UN human rights office in Nepal at a time when
armed conflict raged, the then king exercised executive
authority and democratic rights were under attack.
"It is by any standards extraordinary that now only a
little over three years later Nepal has taken decisions that
have made it a republic," he added, noting that still had to
draw up a new constitution to give reality to the transition
to federalism.
"That's a difficult issue because different groups
mean different things [when they speak of federalism]," he
said.
"One of the most remarkable aspects of the
transformation has been the coming to the fore of ethnic
groups that have traditionally been marginalised and now for
the first time are much more strongly represented in a
uniquely inclusive constituent assembly."
He warned that such a profound transformation "should
lead us to expect that it will have difficulties along the
way."
Martin stressed that the issue of former combatants
would not be easy. "There are widely differing views among the
political parties and sometimes within them regarding the
extent to which Maoist army combatants should or should not be
integrated into the State army and in what manner," he said.
He cited other problems, such as the weak
implementation of other peace process commitments which remain
at issue among the parties and also commissions that have yet
to be formed.
"Commitments to compensation to victims of the
conflict, to investigations into the fate of those who
disappeared, to the return of displaced persons and property
seized during the conflict, to ensuring that the youth groups
of political parties remain within the law – all of these need
to move beyond rhetoric into practical measures to put them
into effect," he said.
Martin noted that the Security Council had itself
called for the political parties to cooperate "in a spirit of
compromise" to complete the peace process. PTI
The unresolved issue of combatants still remains "very
important and quite difficult" for the United Nations Mission in Nepal although its mandate is even more limited following Constituent Assembly elections, Special Representative in Nepal Ian Martin told a news conference on Monday.
The peace agreement, which ended a decade-long civil war between Maoists and the then-government that claimed an estimated 13,000 lives, provides for a committee of all major political parties, including the Neplalese Congress which went into opposition after the formation of the Maoist-led Government, to integrate and rehabilitate Maoist army combatants.
"The Government has announced the establishment of the
special committee and indeed the Secretary-General welcomed
that during his visit [earlier this month], but there is still
a negotiation going on regarding both its composition and its
terms of reference before the Nepali Congress is willing
to nominate representation to participate," Martin said.
Martin, who briefed the Security Council on Friday,
said the country is going through "a very profound
transformation" from what he experienced in 2005, when he
arrived to the UN human rights office in Nepal at a time when
armed conflict raged, the then king exercised executive
authority and democratic rights were under attack.
"It is by any standards extraordinary that now only a
little over three years later Nepal has taken decisions that
have made it a republic," he added, noting that still had to
draw up a new constitution to give reality to the transition
to federalism.
"That's a difficult issue because different groups
mean different things [when they speak of federalism]," he
said.
"One of the most remarkable aspects of the
transformation has been the coming to the fore of ethnic
groups that have traditionally been marginalised and now for
the first time are much more strongly represented in a
uniquely inclusive constituent assembly."
He warned that such a profound transformation "should
lead us to expect that it will have difficulties along the
way."
Martin stressed that the issue of former combatants
would not be easy. "There are widely differing views among the
political parties and sometimes within them regarding the
extent to which Maoist army combatants should or should not be
integrated into the State army and in what manner," he said.
He cited other problems, such as the weak
implementation of other peace process commitments which remain
at issue among the parties and also commissions that have yet
to be formed.
"Commitments to compensation to victims of the
conflict, to investigations into the fate of those who
disappeared, to the return of displaced persons and property
seized during the conflict, to ensuring that the youth groups
of political parties remain within the law – all of these need
to move beyond rhetoric into practical measures to put them
into effect," he said.
Martin noted that the Security Council had itself
called for the political parties to cooperate "in a spirit of
compromise" to complete the peace process. PTI
