KATHMANDU, March 12: After a series of negotiations over the past few weeks, the four major political forces -UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) - have come very much closer to a ´package deal´ on all contentious issues except rank determination for the Maoist combatants opting for integration into the Nepal Army (NA).
The major parties are all set to clinch a final deal after holding an all-party meeting at the Constituent Assembly (CA) building at 4 pm Tuesday, should the main opposition NC gave in to the Maoist demand for the ranks of colonel for one former Maoist combatant and lieutenant-colonel for two others through a ´political decision´.[break]
According NC Vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel, a meeting of the Taskforce comprising leaders from all the four major political forces is scheduled to sit again at 8 a.m. Tuesday to give final shape to the deal they have reached on the issues of removing constitutional difficulties, formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and criteria for voter registration, as per the understanding reached among political parties during Monday´s meeting. "The four-party meeting will sit at 11 a.m. to finally endorse the draft agreement prepared by the Taskforce," he said.
Leaders involved in the negotiations said the four parties are scheduled to send a copy of the final agreement to the President´s Office before apprising top leaders of all political parties represented in the erstwhile CA of their agreement. And if everything goes as planned, the top leaders of all four major political forces are scheduled, after the all-party meeting is over, to sign the much-awaited deal on behalf of their respective parties and resolve the deadlock, paving the way for fresh elections under a chief justice-led government.
Earlier on Monday morning, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and top leaders of all four major political forces had held discussions with Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi on a draft proposal prepared by the Taskforce for resolving constitutional difficulties surrounding the formation of a CJ-led government.
As CJ Regmi suggested removing the provision on the High-Level Political Mechanism incorporated in the draft amendment proposal, the parties had discussed at length whether it was good to leave the CJ-led government without any checks and balance. The parties had proposed forming the Mechanism to help create an environment for elections and provide necessary assistance to the CJ when it comes to taking political decisions.
While the Maoist and Madhesi parties and the UML argued that it was all right to allow the CJ to work freely, NC leaders were divided whether to leave the CJ ´unaccountable´. "Discussions within the NC revolved around ways to make the CJ-led government accountable," said a NC leader. Nevertheless, there has been an agreement to keep the proposed High-Level Political Mechanism as a ´reference provision´ in the draft proposal to be recommended to President Dr Yadav through the cabinet.
Leaders said the ´reference provision´ on the High-Level Political Mechanism will ensure that the political parties remain a ´decisive force´ and that they will recommend to the president to remove difficulties if some unforeseen circumstances appear.
Likewise, the CJ had expressed reservations over the proposal of the four major political forces that the CJ-led Council of Ministers would only comprise former government employees. As per the suggestions of the CJ, the parties have agreed to allow him to also include ´independent persons´ in his Election Council of Ministers.
According to Maoist Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha, the parties have reached an understanding to revise the ordinance related to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to make it compatible with international standards. "We have agreed to revise the TRC to address the concerns of the international community. It will not have any provision on general amnesty or blanket amnesty," he said.
Stating that parties have already reached an understanding on issues related to citizenship certificates and voter registration, Shrestha said, "Our chairman has told the other parties that all the agreements reached so far will be broken if the Maoist combatants are denied the ranks of colonel and lieutenant-colonel. The final deal now depends on whether other parties stand ready to meet our demand," he said. "But we remain hopeful that there will be a final deal tomorrow [Tuesday]."
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