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War-era property deals: Oppn parties threaten ‘serious confrontation’

KATHMANDU, JAN 22 -
While opposition parties have mounted pressure on the government to roll back its decision to legalise war-era property transactions, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s efforts to woo the parties and resume parliament proceedings have failed.

The opposition parties said the government’s decision to legalise the transactions made by the Maoist-run parallel administration during the decade-long conflict was a mistake, in principle, graver than the one committed by the then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal in 2009 when he attempted in vain to sack the then Army Chief Rookmangud Katawal. They said any delay in scrapping the decision would invite “serious confrontation”.

Bhattarai, however, said the issue is a minor one and that the parties are making a mountain out of a molehill.

In Sunday’s meeting with Bhattarai, opposition leaders from the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML took serious exception to the move, which they said was a direct attack on the rule of law, an individual’s right to property, the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) and all the past agreements on the peace process.

The parties have ruled out negotiations on other issues until the government revokes its decision.

 “We have told the prime minister that this is a mistake many times graver than the one Prachanda committed when he attempted to sack Katawal,” said NC General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula. “If the mistake is not corrected, it is going to invite serious confrontation.” He however, did not say what the “confrontation” would be like.

Dahal had to resign as PM following a controversy that surrounded his decision to sack Katawal in 2009. On Sunday, Bhattarai remained busy trying to convince leaders of the opposition parties and thus resume the House session, but in vain.

Leaders of the opposition parties like NC president Sushil Koirala, Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poduel and General Secretary Sitaula, UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal and senior leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP Oli told Bhattarai that they will not discuss other issues without the government first taking back its property transaction decision.

“We cannot leave the issue unaddressed simply because the court has stayed the decision. It may take another one year for the court to give a verdict, while the court order is just an interim one,” Sitaula said.

The matter is already sub-judice as a writ has been filed in the Supreme Court against the government decision. The court on Thursday stayed the same.

Bhattarai is planning to call a meeting of top leaders of three big parties on Monday to discuss the issue. However, while the opposition parties have clarified that though they will sit for the three-party talks, they will not talk any other issue but the “wrong decision.” In a telephone conversation with NC President Koirala, Bhattarai proposed the meeting to discuss the overall issues of the current deadlock.

“Considering the Supreme Court’s decision and the opposition parties’ demand, the prime minister has assured the parties that the decision will not be implemented immediately,” PM’s aide Bishwodip Pandey said.

Posted on: 2012-01-23 08:16

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