PLA Spokesperson Chandra Prakash Khanal said on Sunday that the PLA members would not participate in the integration process unless the PLA is offered a post of major general post in the Nepal Army and special economic package to the combatants who have opted for integration but would not be accommodated in the 6,500 quota agreed among the parties.[break]
The PLA spokesperson floated the conditions at a time when the Maoists have stalled the peace process demanding popularly elected presidential system in the new constitution. The Maoist condition has affected the calendar of the secretariat under the Special Committee on giving voluntary retirement to 7,365 Maoist combatants supposed to begin from Sunday.
“The stalled peace process will not resume until the post of a major general is given to the PLA,” said Khanal, speaking at the Reporter´s Club Nepal on Sunday, adding, “We will not allow voluntary retirement if a special economic package is not provided to 3,200 combatants who have chosen integration but will be left out of the quota.”
In an agreement on November 1, major political parties, including the UCPN (Maoist), had agreed that up to 6,500 combatants will be integrated into the Nepal Army. But altogether 9,705 combatants have chosen integration during the recently-held categorization process.
Though Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has told the media time and again that he does not want to renegotiate the terms of the agreement, Maoist leaders have demanded that the integration quota be increased as over 9,000 are keen on joining the national army.
In the agreement, the parties had agreed to give combatants ranks in the Nepal Army commensurate with their education and number of years of service in the PLA. Khanal was of the view that high-ranking posts in the proposed directorate of the Nepal Army be given to the PLA.
“Why cannot the PLA hold the post of a major general in the national army?” Khanal questioned, warning that “misinterpretation of the seven-point agreement” would not be acceptable to the PLA.
Khanal further added that the bridge course proposed for the combatants before joining the national army would not be acceptable if it is prepared unilaterally by the national army.
“The bridge course must be prepared by a body acceptable to both the parties [NA and the PLA] as the seven-point agreement is silent on it,” argued Khanal. “I don´t think the cantonments would be vacated by Falgun [mid-February] given the present pace,” he said.
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