While the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML argued that the issues related to the peace process, including the management of Maoist combatants and arms should be settled first, the Maoists wanted to resolve the issue of power sharing and government formation. [break]As the leaders of all three parties remained adamant in their respective stances, the two-day meeting beginning November 5 ended inconclusively.
During the meeting, the Maoists argued forcefully that the formation of a new government should get priority over other issues as the country was headed towards a crisis due to the absence of budget. They also argued that the law and order situation was deteriorating due to absence of government.
Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal even offered four alternatives for power sharing and formation of a new government. According to UML leader Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Dahal said they could form a Maoist-led government, a government without Maoist participation, a rotational prime ministerial system and "presidium system" where the top leaders of all three parties would alternatively chair the meeting of the council of ministers.
But NC leader Ram Chandra Poudel said the options for the formation of a new government were not discussed seriously at the meeting. “Neither did the Maoists put forth those options seriously nor did we take them seriously,” he said.
With the peace process their top priority, the NC and UML leaders tried to persuade the Maoists to move ahead with the peace process. According to UML leader Adhikari, NC and the UML proposed that the Maoists agree to appoint the coordinator of the Secretariat, which is meant for advancing the proposed integration and rehabilitation of cantoned PLA combatants, and publicly announce that the combatants are now under the Secretariat and no longer belonged to them (Maoists).
The NC and UML also demanded that the PLA combatants be divided into three categories and placed in three different camps, one for those who to be integrated into the army and other security forces, a second for those who opt for rehabilitation in society, and a third for those who wish to take voluntary retirement with a package. “This would have created credible grounds for the conclusion of the ongoing peace process and paved the way for the formation of a new government,” Adhikari argued.
But the Maoists dismissed the NC-UML proposal, arguing that such categorization of the PLA could be done only by a new government, not by the care-taker government.
Altogether 15 leaders --five each from the Maoists, NC and the UML --including the top leaders participated in the talks at Hattiban Resorts on the outskirts of Kathmandu.
Though the meeting initially set out six various agenda items, including review of the implementation status of past agreements related to the peace process, preparing grounds for consensus among political parties to end the current deadlock, striking a power sharing deal, arriving at consensus on various contentious issues over constitution drafting and resolving the standoff over tabling the budget in parliamnet, the two-day delberations primarily focused on the management of Maoist combatants and forming a new government.
NC leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula said both NC and the UML seriously doubt Maoist intentions concenring concluding the peace process and said there is slim chance of reaching an agreement as long as the Maoists do not prepare credible grounds for concluding the peace process. Sitaula said,“A new constitution can be promulgated only after concluding the ongoing peace process.”
Next talks on November 10
The leaders have agreed to meet again on Novemeber 10 for futher talks and some leaders have expressed optimism about the outcome. "Though the three-party meeting held earlier could not yield results, it has prepared the grounds for the next round of talks," said Maoist leader Dev Gurung, one of the participants in the meeting.
Similarly, UML General Secretary Ishwor Pokharel said the leaders of all three parties have agreed to prepare a concrete work plan for the next meeting and set out a time frame to conclude the peace process. "The agenda of the next meeting is to concretize the work plan," he said.
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