Following the directive from the prime minister, the secretariat began preparations for the voluntary retirement that was supposed to have concluded by January 19 under the January-1 decision, had the Maoists cooperated. [break]
"The secretariat is sending teams to the cantonments on Tuesday," Balananda Sharma, convener of the secretariat, told Republica.
The prime minister wanted a formal decision on starting the voluntary retirement process within three days but the Special Committee did not take any formal decision after the NC and CPN-UML leaders questioned the point of any decision if it was not going to be implemented, according to Dr Minendra Rijal, a Nepali Congress representative on the Special Committee.
But Maoist representative Barsha Man Pun told journalists after the meeting that the Special Committee decided to begin the voluntary retirement process within three days.
The NC and CPN-UML representatives had questioned the prime minister over non-implementation of six decisions taken by the Special Committee, including the starting of voluntary retirement for 7,365 combatants and making preparations for integrating 6,500 combatants. In addition, they had also wanted the prime minister to make clear his party´s stance on the peace process itself.
The prime minister then proposed that the meeting endorse commencement of the voluntary retirement process within three days. He wanted a formal decision but NC and CPN-UML representative opposed that.
"We asked the prime minister to implement the previous decision in the field before taking any new decisions," said Rijal about the meeting.
At the meeting, the NC and CPN-UML members also opposed giving certificates of appreciation to the combatants who have chosen voluntary retirement. They likewise stood against recognizing the present ranks of the PLA, arguing that promotions in the PLA were effected by the party and they could only accept the ranks recorded by the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) during their verification process in 2007.
A source at the secretariat said the secretariat is going to give voluntary retirement packages to the combatants as per their ranks recorded with UNMIN, the UN political mission that was in Nepal until mid-January last year to monitor Nepal´s peace process.
The source further said that altogether 91 staffers in seven groups will be sent to the cantonments for giving voluntary retirement to combatants who have opted to quit the Maoist army. The groups will move from one cantonment to another.
No integration without chief or deputy chief post: Maoists
The Maoist party has decided that the party should not let the process of integration of its combatants into the Nepal Army move ahead unless the People´s Liberation Army is given the post of either chief or deputy chief in the proposed directorate under the national army.
A meeting of the party´s office bearers on Thursday took a decision to this effect, said a Maoist leader.
"The party will claim the leadership of the directorate; if not that, it will demand the second highest rank in the directorate. It will be the party´s bottom line for integration of combatants," the leader said of the decision taken by the party office bearers.
The leader said that the party took the decision to ensure "dignified integration" of the Maoist combatants.
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