At a meeting held at Singha Durbar on Tuesday, the two major parties in the coalition government also decided to focus on expediting the integration and rehabilitation of the cantoned Maoist combatants, after concluding that the Maoists were deliberately delaying the integration and rehabilitation process on various pretexts.
The NC and UML expressed concern over the prolonged delay in the integration and rehabilitation of former rebel combatants despite the agreement reached between the then Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) and the Maoists to accomplish the task within six months of the elected prime minister assuming office.
"Though the Constituent Assembly is currently working to draft a new constitution, there has been minimal progress in the integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants," said NC General Secretary Bimalendra Nidhi, who attended the meeting.
Nidhi said the two parties also agreed to work towards completing the process of integration and rehabilitation of the former rebel combatants before the new constitution is drafted. "We have also decided to ask the Maoists to help implement past agreements in full," he said.
The scheduled deadline for the CA to draft the new constitution is just five months away.
Integration and rehabilitation of the combatants failed to take on momentum once the Maoist-led government stepped down on May 4. Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, in his capacity as the prime minister at the time, had announced that the process would be completed by mid-July.
Party leaders present at the meeting expressed concern over the Maoists´ refusal over the past several weeks to attend meetings of the special committee which is supposed to expedite the integration and rehabilitation. "The Maoists have been remaining absent from the special committee meeting," said one leader present at the meeting. "Even if the Maoists attend they have been dilly-dallying over the process on various excuses."
The decision of the two major parties in the coalition government comes in the wake of the UN giving out clear signals that the prolonged stay here of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) was not possible.
The fourth extension of term of the UN body, mandated with monitoring the arms and armies until the army integration process is complete, expires on January 23, 2010.
The government last week decided to ask the UN Security Council to extend UNMIN´s term for an additional four months.
NC leaders Ram Chandra Poudel, Krishna Prasad Sitaula and Arjun Narsingh KC and UML leaders Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Keshav Badal, Pradeep Gyawali and Parshu Ram Negi Gurung were among those present at Tuesday´s meeting.
According to UML leader Bharat Mohan Adhikari, the meeting expressed concern over Maoist protest activities and their scheduled indefinite general strike after January 24 as these could seriously affect the rehabilitation process.
He said the two parties decided to hold a meeting with their respective members in the Special Committee on Supervision, Management and Rehabilitation of Maoist Combatants and in the Technical Committee formed under the Special Committee, to learn about the differences with the Maoists.
The NC and UML are scheduled to meet again on Wednesday. The two parties will meet the prime minister after holding a meeting with the Maoists soon.
koshraj@myrepublica.com
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