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UNMIN bone in govt gullet
- ‘Ban Ki-moon’s report ignores realities’
NEW YORK, SEP 08 -
The government has expressed strong reservations over the report of United Nations’ Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arguing that it failed to incorporate the ground realities and positive efforts made by the government of Nepal, including its commitment to democratize the Nepal Army. The government has also taken exception to the report questioning the regular functioning of the government. The official response comes as part of discussions on the Secretary-General’s report at the Security Council (SC).
In his statement in Tuesday’s SC briefing Permanent Representative of Nepal to the UN Gyan Chandra Acharya said the government of Nepal did not agree on a number of assessments that UN has made in its report. “We would have liked to see the report more balanced, nuanced and reflective of the correct assessment of the situation on the ground in its entirety,” said Acharya arguing that an appropriate reflection of the government’s “hard” work to push forward the peace process might have provided a balanced view of the situation.
The government feels that the report made a serious mistake by equating the Nepal Army with Maoist combatants. “With the election to the Constituent Assembly and formation of a Special Committee, the concept of two armies is no more there,” said Acharya. “Therefore, the Maoist combatants should not be referred to as such consistently throughout the report. A national army cannot be equated with the combatants.”
The statement made in the SC is in line with the government and Nepal Army’s desire to reduce UNMIN’s mandate of supervising the Nepal Army.
The government has also shown serious concern over UNMIN’s ‘non paper’ that presented a 60-week hypothetical plan for integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist combatants. “The non-paper created a lot of confusion in Nepal as it suggested an action plan that went well over the constitution drafting time and created unnecessary political complications,” Acharya said.
The government has expressed its dissatisfaction on the non-reporting of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal’s 16-week action plan on integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants, which “shows the utmost commitment to accelerate the task”. Nepal’s representative also pointed out that the government has prepared a “detailed action plan” headed by Defense Minister Bidhya Bhandari to democratize the national army. He also took exception to the questions raised about the caretaker government.
Acharya said that he has forwarded the government’s letter.
Landgren lays the lash on parties
POST REPORT
KATHMANDU, SEPT. 8
In an unusually strongly worded comment, UNMIN chief Karin Landgren has said criticism of UNMIN was the result of deepening mistrust among Nepal’s political parties and their failure to carry the peace process forward.
“Ascribing blame to the UN for their own failure to move forward politically is not a new phenomenon, and it has grown incrementally and in intensity,” said Landgren while briefing the UN Security Council at New York on Tuesday. “Hard political decisions needed to take Nepal’s peace process forward are beyond UNMIN’s mandate and capacity, and lie firmly in the hands of Nepal’s political leaders.” Stating that “the United Nations has no interest or desire to prolong the life of the mission even a day more than necessary”, Landgren said that Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon desires to see the mission complete its task and withdraw, in a manner “that doesn’t jeopardize Nepal’s peace process.”
She said Nepal’s relatively successful “arms monitoring regime” has been subject to unfounded claims of UNMIN’s bias and distortions. She told the 15-member Security Council “a flood of criticism” was levelled against the UNMIN by the Government of Nepal and the Nepal Army last month to exert pressure for ending UN’s monitoring of Nepal Army.
“UNMIN has protested the Army’s impugning of the integrity of the United Nations. The caretaker government has yet to repudiate the actions or remarks of its Army and its ministers,” the Representative of the Secretary General told the council.
(Extracts of the statement on Pg 7)
Posted on: 2010-09-09 08:38
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