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PEACE, CONSTITUTION WRITING: In House, Congress, Maoists trade barbs

KATHMANDU, JAN 08 -
The deepening mistrust between the UCPN (Maoist) and the Nepali Congress (NC) dominated Sunday’s Parliament session. The session saw leaders from the two parties accusing each other of hatching conspiracies to derail the peace and constitution drafting processes.

NC, the main opposition, censured the government for putting the constitution writing process in peril by delaying the implementation of the army integration deal. On the other hand, the ruling party said it feared that the NC would block constitution making by adopting a rigid stance if the peace process concludes immediately.

Addressing the House session, opposition leader Ram Chandra Poudel said the Maoists deviated from the task of concluding the peace process and that the party is active in “reversing” consensus struck between major parties on constitutional issues. He accused the Maoists of trying to promulgate the constitution under the ‘shadow of the gun.’

“We sense that the Maoists want to promulgate the new constitution and participate in the next elections by keeping the cantonments and the army with them. That is unacceptable,” he said. “We are deeply worried about the recent deviation in the Maoists. The Maoist chairman and the prime minister should make a fresh commitment to restore trust among the parties.”

The NC leader said constitution drafting cannot make a headway until the peace process sees a logical end. He stressed implementation of the November 1 peace deal, arguing that the agreement clearly mentions that rank determination, bridging course and training to be imparted to Maoist combatants would be decided by the Nepal Army.

The Maoists have been arguing that the seven point deal is silent on those issues and are pressing for a new agreement. The party’s reservation has delayed the process of farewell to combatants opting for voluntary retirement. The process is slated to begin this week. Maoist lawmaker Janardan Sharma said the peace process and constitution drafting are interlinked and one cannot progress in the absence of the other. He reiterated his party’s commitment to implement the November 1 agreement and said that technical issues, including ranks and bridging courses, should be decided on before executing the integration and the voluntary retirement processes.

Sharma argued that the Maoist party was never an obstacle to the peace and constitution making process and urged the NC to give up its doubts. He said the NC was backtracking from an agreement made by the taskforce on forms of governance and its willingness to revive parliamentary democracy enshrined in the 1990 constitution were causes of the current deadlock.

“The Congress is trying to push its agenda by taking advantage of the difficult situation faced by our party. We will not accept the failed model of parliamentary democracy in the new constitution any longer,” he said. Sharma said the peace process will not advance if the deadlock in constitution making continues.

Poudel, on the other hand, claimed that the parties are yet to reach agreement on forms of governance. He said the parties are yet to discuss details of the mixed model and claimed that his party had not consented to the provision of a directly elected president and a prime minister elected from the House proposed by the taskforce under the Constitutional Committee.

The NC said arms handover is a precondition to a progress in constitution making. Sharma said the weapons are under the Special Commi-ttee and that combatants seeking integration will give up party membership.

Posted on: 2012-01-09 09:15

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