UN official appeals for political compromise in Nepal

Both the Government of Nepal and the Maoists have renewed their commitment to the country’s peace process in conversations with the top United Nations political official, who today urged them to reach a political compromise in the broader interest of the peace deal, which ended a decade-long bloody civil war that killed some 15,000 people in the country.

B. Lynn Pascoe, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, called Prime Minister Giriji Prasad Koirala and Maoist Chariman Prachanda on behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who “has been following the recent political developments in Nepal with concern,” UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters in New York.

In the telephone calls to the two leaders in the Himalayan country, Mr. Pascoe also stressed the need to press forward with the Constituent Assembly election as scheduled in November.

“Both leaders reiterated their commitment to the peace process, and also noted that 8-Party discussions were continuing positively with the goal of overcoming the current difficulties in the near future,” Ms. Montas noted.

A comprehensive peace agreement was signed last November between Nepal’s multi-party Government and the Maoists, and the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) was established this January to support Nepal’s peace process by helping to create conditions for the election to take place in a free and fair atmosphere.

Over 180 arms monitors are mandated to monitor the arms and armies of the former adversaries, the Maoist army and the Nepal Army, who are confined to cantonments and barracks in the lead-up to the election.