Dahal-Nepal Meet: Dahal calls for new ‘broad’ agreement
- Bats for unity govt to end stalemate
Amid ongoing stalemate on army integration and constitution-writing processes, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal is seeking a new broad agreement on contentious issues relating to new constitution, army integration and formation of a national consensus government based on the seven-point understanding.
But the opposition parties including Nepali Congress have ruled out any new deal, insisting that the Maoists first comply with the existing agreement on army integration and rehabilitation before discussion on consensus government
can begin. Dahal on Saturday invited former prime minister and senior leader of the CPN-UML, Madhav Kumar Nepal, to his new residence in Lazimpat to discuss ways to end the political stalemate.
According to sources, both leaders had frank exchange of views and agreed to end the current political stalemate without any delay. Dahal reached out to Nepal a day after the latter proposed a change in government in the meeting of 17 parties including NC and UML. Apparently agreeing with Nepal’s proposition to change the government, Dahal said a new national unity government was crucial to end the deadlock.
Dahal assured Nepal that he would attend meetings of the Constitutional Committee (CC) and informal meetings of three parties to expedite resolution of the contentious issues on peace and constitution writing. Opposition parties have been critical of Dahal for avoiding CC meetings where Maoist hardliners are threatening to overturn the agreements reached at the Dispute Resolution Subcommittee.
In the meeting, Nepal asked Dahal to clarify the Maoist position on advancing the peace and constitution-writing processes.
During the meeting, Dahal reassured Nepal that he was all for ending the deadlock created by the issue of legalising land transactions sanctioned by the Maoists’ parallel government during the conflict. “Chairman (Dahal) clarified that party’s internal rift would not affect peace and constitution,” Dahal’s close aide Sameer Dahal said.
In the meeting, Nepal strongly objected to the government’s decision to legalise war-era land dealings made by Maoists’ ‘People’s Council’. In response, Dahal said he was talking to the government regarding the decision’s withdrawal.
“The meetings of the Special Committee and the Constitutional Committee have been stalled for long. And now you have begun backtracking from the earlier agreement,” Nepal told Dahal, according to a UML source.
During an hour-long meeting, Dahal blamed Nepal for teaming up against the Maoist party. “You backtrack from the forms of governance and ganged up against us—joining hands with the smaller parties,” Dahal told Nepal—even raising the issue of a reported meeting between Nepal, NC leader Ram Chandra Poudel, and CC Chairman Nilambar Acharya and some civil society members in Babarmahal to overturn the Zurich
agreement on forms of governance.
In response, Nepal said the Babarmahal meet was not intended to create an anti-Maoist alliance, rather it was aimed at putting pressure on the former rebels for timely completion of the peace process.
Posted on: 2012-01-22 08:18
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