E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, MAY 26 - UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Thursday expressed commitment to hand over the keys of containers storing Maoist weapons to local monitors deployed by the Special Committee at the main cantonment sites.

The monitoring team comprises personnel from the Nepal Army, the Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force and the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Dahal's commitment came after Nepal-based ambassadors of the European Union member states urged him to take a "symbolic step" that would demonstrate the party's commitment to the peace process and ensure the tenure extension of the Constituent Assembly (CA).

During hour-long discussions at Naya Bazar, Dahal said he cannot make concessions beyond the handover of the keys to the monitors due to differences within the party. "The party will split if I accept the terms and conditions of the Nepali Congress," a source quoted Dahal as saying.

NC has demanded that the Maoists hand over the weapons to the government. The Maoists, especially the hard-line faction, have vehemently opposed the NC demand, saying that handing over the weapons would mean the former combatants had surrendered.

The hardliner faction led by party Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya argues that the handover of the weapons before the integration process as demanded by the NC would tantamount to disregarding the PLA and its contribution in ushering in a republic in the country.

As the Baidya faction commands a significant number of lawmakers, Dahal is reluctant to take any decision unilaterally. The Baidya faction has the support of at least 85 lawmakers in the party.

Baidya also argues that the prominent features and modality of the new constitution should be finalised before initiating the integration process because the official line of party is that the peace process and constitution writing process should go ahead simultaneously.

"We cannot hand over the weapons to the government before we come to an agreement on the integration process as we still have serious differences with the Nepali Congress. Chances of consensus seem bleak," Baidya said.

In an effort to cut Dahal to size, the Baidya faction is thinking of forwarding Vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai as the Parliamentary Party leader. "If Dahal goes against the official line of the party, we will take any step against him, including removing him as the Parliamentary Party leader," Maoist leader close to Baidya, Mahendra Paswan, said.

Posted on: 2011-05-26 11:58

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