UNMIN's term extension

It seems the Nepal Army (NA) and the Nepali Congress (NC) have upped the ante over UNMIN. NA chief Chhatraman Singh Gurung called on Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Rakam Chemjong on Friday and ´conveyed´ the army´s position that UNMIN´s term should not be extended any further after it expires on September 15. A meeting of NC office bearers, chaired by the party’s acting president, Sushil Koirala, concluded that even if UNMIN´s term is extended, the national army should no longer be kept under its supervision. Both these positions are unjustified.



First, let´s take up the army´s stance. The Nepal Army is an important part of the peace process but it´s not an institution that has or should have a say on UNMIN´s term extension. As a stakeholder, it can always give its feedback to or share its views with the line ministry-- Ministry of Defense. But when the army chief goes to the peace minister and takes up the issue with him it should be seen as active lobbying by the army, if not overt position-taking. This should be unacceptable since it goes against the basic democratic doctrine of civilian control over the armed forces.



UNMIN was invited to Nepal by the government and the Maoist party jointly. And a decision to extend its term or send it packing will have to be taken by them jointly. It is, therefore, an issue that demands cooperation from both sides. In the context of the Maoist party´s position that UNMIN´s presence is needed until the conclusion of the peace process, the army´s latest stance is unreasonable and provocative. UNMIN has a lot of weaknesses and this newspaper has been very critical of the lapses in fulfilling its responsibilities. But to demand that it should pack up and go in the midst of a fragile peace process does not make sense.



It also does not make sense to us why the NC is demanding that the NA be kept outside of UNMIN´s supervision even if its term is extended. The NC hasn´t provided any good justification for this, and it is again something that has to be agreed by the Maoists as well. As they have already made it clear they are opposed to such a concession to the NA, there is no point pushing this agenda.



There is, however, an issue raised by the NA that all the parties, including the Maoists, should take seriously: depletion of its munitions. The NA has said it is in dire need of ammunition to keep up with regular training of NA personnel and new recruits. We are not sure if the depletion is serious or the army is simply using it for propaganda value. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal should have a candid conversation with the army leadership and if the shortage is real and is detrimental to the army´s security needs, he should hold a no-nonsense dialogue with Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal to address the issue. The issue of peace process and national security are too serious to be trivialized, and we caution the parties to handle it with care.

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