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3-year plan for NA revamp
KATHMANDU, AUG 02 -
A Cabinet committee led by Defence Minister Bidhya Bhandari has an action plan for the democratisation of Nepal Army within three years.
In the report given to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, the committee said rightsizing of the Nepal Army, organisational restructuring and review of its mandate could be done in three years. The five-member committee formed in December has the mandate to recommend the democratisation of the Army and reform the security sector.
“We have a three-year time frame so that a stable government formed after the promulgation of the new constitution can take the matter to a conclusion,” said Defence Secretary Nabin Ghimire, ex-officio member of the committee. He added that the report has suggested the government form a task force to review the mandate of the Army and carry out threat analysis before taking a call on the issue.
The 81-page report has identified eight areas — civilian supremacy and government control, restructuring, civil-military relationship, amending the existing legal provisions, transparency and accountability, promotion of human rights, inclusiveness and coordination between the defence ministry and the Nepal Army — for the democratisation of the Army. It has suggested a review of the existing Army act and also of the mandate of the National Security Council (NSC).
The committee underlined the need for formulating a new Act to govern the NSC and urged that the body be given charge of coordinating all security agencies. Currently, the Security Council is only responsible for mobilisation of the Nepal Army. Despite the Army’s proposal to keep it directly under the executive, the committee has suggested the Army be kept under the parliament.
The committee suggested international standards be considered for inclusiveness in the Army. It urged the government to undertake the restructuring of the defence ministry within six months. The ministry, where 29 officials are currently serving, is mulling incorporating military components for its restructuring.
The Cabinet will endorse the report after discussion with different political parties and the State Affairs Committee of the Parliament, said Defence Secretary Ghimire. Home Minister Bhim Rawal said the extensive plan for reform in the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force would get a final shape after the Cabinet endorses the new national security policy.
Posted on: 2010-08-03 08:25
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