Nepal: Ban commends strides made towards consolidating peace
Progress has been made in Nepal’s peace process, including steps towards drafting a new constitution, but Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has cautioned that differences among key political parties continues to impede the consolidation of peace.
Regarding the “all-important constitution-making work,” Mr. Ban wrote in a new report made public today that nation-wide public talks are under way and the Special Committee mandated to supervise, integrate and rehabilitate Maoist army personnel has kicked off consultations.
Further, the Government has taken steps towards discharging disqualified Maoist army personnel from the cantonment sites, he said.
In spite of these “not insignificant positive measures,” the report noted that relations between the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) and its main coalition partner, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (UML), as well as among the four political parties in the Maoist-led coalition Government, remain “fractious, marked by public acrimony and weak consultation over major decisions.”
A decade-long civil war, claiming some 13,000 lives, ended in 2006 with the signing of a peace accord between the Government and Maoists. After conducting Constituent Assembly elections last May, the nation abolished its 240-year-old monarchy, declared itself a republic and elected Ram Baran Yadav as the country’s first President.
At the end of its previous mandate in January, the UN special political mission in the country, known as UNMIN, reduced its staff to a minimal level.
“Nepali parties have repeatedly indicated to the United Nations that UNMIN arms monitors will continue to be needed to perform their current duties until the issue of integration and rehabilitation of Maoist army personnel is resolved,” the Secretary-General said in his report.
“The international community remains committed to supporting the process on which Nepal has embarked for the consolidation of peace and improvement of the lives of its people,” he added.