“…the mission is acting within its mandate and consistent with calls by the Security Council for the parties to take advantage of UNMIN´s expertise and readiness to support the peace process and facilitate the completion of its tasks,” said Farhan Haq, associate spokesperson for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, during press briefing in New York on Monday. [break]
The global body´s defense of its political mission in Nepal comes in response to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal´s public allegation that UNMIN breached its jurisdiction by preparing a 60-week plan for rehabilitation and integration of Maoist combatants.
On Monday, the government even lodged its official objection to UNMIN over the plan, saying that preparation of the plan does not fall under UNMIN´s jurisdiction.
The government has argued that only the Special Committee for Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation of Maoist Combatants should make such plan under Article 146 of the Interim Constitution.
The spokesperson further said on the controversy over the plan, “The issue dealt with in the non-paper containing the timeline for integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants is based on consultations by UNMIN, which has been consulting with the main parties in Nepal for some time which have taken place with the full knowledge of the government; this is not something new.”
Haq further said that the ideas related to the plan are part of UNMIN´s discussion with the political parties and intended to facilitate forward planning of the implementation of integration and rehabilitation of former Maoist combatants once political decisions are made by the parties.
“The completion of UNMIN´s arms monitoring mandate, in large part, is contingent on the parties agreeing on a plan to address the future of the Maoist army personnel,” the spokesperson said.
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