I/III. http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index.php/news-archive/2-political/3477-un-warns-nepal-peace-process-close-to-standstill-due-to-tensions-and-mistrust.html
UN warns, Nepal peace process close to standstill due to tensions and mistrustThursday, 14 January 2010 10:10 The United Nations has said, Nepal's peace process has remained largely stalled over the past three months, with tensions and mistrusts between the Unified CPN (Maoist), the government and army threatening its very survival. Tabling the latest quarterly report on Nepal's peace process at the UN Security Council (UNSC) in New York on Wednesday, Secretary General (UNSG) Ban Ki-moon warned, the peace process could collapse as the major disagreements that have brought the peace process close to a standstill remain unresolved. UNSG Ban has pointed out integration and rehabilitation of Maoist army personnel, the democratisation of the Nepal Army, and the scope of presidential authority as the major disagreements among the parties. "As the stalemate has continued, tensions have risen within and among the parties, and talks among senior leaders of the Nepali Congress, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) and UCPN-M have remained inconclusive," Ban has mentioned in his report. "The brinkmanship and confrontation between the Maoists and the government, accompanied by a sharp and dangerous hardening of positions, is making a negotiated solution significantly more difficult." "Positions have hardened at the opposing ends of the political spectrum, which has seriously eroded the common middle ground that had, from the outset, defined the peace process and remained its driving strength. There is a growing and worrying risk of the political discourse being dominated by extreme voices and the focus shifting away from the peaceful and democratic path," he adds, calling on all parties to overcome their differences. UNSG Ban has also recommended for the extension of UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN)'s mandate by four months. Its current mandate is ending on January 23. "The country is now entering a crucial period," he writes. "The coming few months before the May 2010 date for the promulgation of a new constitution are critical for the successful conclusion of the peace process. While it is my desire to see UNMIN complete its mandated tasks and end its presence as soon as possible, withdrawing the Mission at this particular time of heightened tension would not be the wisest course." UNSG Ban has termed some of recent activities of both the Maoists and Nepal Army including protests calling for "civilian supremacy" that disrupted daily life as well as the functioning of government offices around the country, sharply escalating tensions over seizure of land and crops by people with the support of UCPN (Maoists) and its sister organisations, and the repeated call for fresh recruitment for the army as violations of the comprehensive peace accord. Ban has lamented that both Nepal Army and the Maoists have not carried out previous recommendations to confirm the number of their respective personnel and increase their cooperation with UNMIN on the notification of troop movements. He further writes, there has been no progress on formalising confidence-building measures related to joint humanitarian and mine action-related activities. In the report, Ban has also expressed dissatisfaction over the government decision to promote Toran Bahadur Singh calling it government apathy towards improving human rights situation. No substantial progress has been made in addressing impunity and ensuring accountability for human rights violations committed during or after the conflict, with the government promoting to second-in-command of the army a major general who commanded a then-Royal Nepal Army brigade linked to arbitrary detention, torture and disappearances in 2003/04, Ban writes in his report. He has also criticised UCPN (Maoist) for failing to take action against violators of Human Rights. UCPN-M failed to take any action to address the alleged involvement of party members in serious crimes, both during and since the conflict, including the killings of a businessman and journalists and the bombing of a bus in 2005 that resulted in the death of 36 civilian passengers. II. http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index.php/news-archive/2-political/3481-maoist-chairman-dahal-takes-u-turn-on-pms-inclusion-in-hlpm.html Maoist chairman Dahal takes U-turn on PM's inclusion in HLPMThursday, 14 January 2010 11:05 Two days after he outrightly ruled out the Prime Minister's inclusion in the High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM), Unified CPN (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has taken a U-turn on his stance by agreeing to include PM Madhav Kumar Nepal as an invited member in the HLPM. Maoist chairman Dahal, who went to meet the mechanism's coordinator and Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala at the latter's residence in Maharajgunj Thursday morning, told reporters after the meeting, 'we have agreed to include the PM as an invited member.' Chairman Dahal had told reporters in Dhangadi on Tuesday, why include someone (in the HLPM) who is the main cause of the political deadlock. Earlier on Wednesday, another member of the HLPM and UML chairman Jhala Nath Khanal and Koirala had agreed to include the PM as a permanent invited member of the mechanism.2010-01-14 However, whether PM Nepal-who has vocally expressed his dissatisfaction for bypassing him while forming the HLPM-will join the mechanism just as an invited member remains to be seen. When contacted, PM Nepal's press advisor Bishnu Rijal told Nepalnews, it is still unclear at this time, whether PM Nepal will participate in the HLPM. "PM is the one who had been taking initiative for the formation of the mechanism since the beginning. But it is not clear why they did not include him first, and then they are talking about including him again now," said Rijal. "Nothing has been discussed about it with the PM so far." In today's meeting, Koirala and Dahal also agreed to hold the first meeting of the mechanism as soon as UML chairman Khanal returns from his India trip, possibly next Monday and discuss its jurisdiction and operating guidelines. III. http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index.php/news-archive/1-top-story/3487-democrats-sweep-nba-polls.html <http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index.php/news-archive/1-top-story/3487-democrats-sweep-nba-polls.html>Democrats sweep NBA pollsThursday, 14 January 2010 17:49 The 'democratic panel' swept the election for the new leadership of Nepal Bar Association (NBA), the umbrella organisation of lawyers across the country. The results of the election held on Saturday came out Thursday evening. Prem Bahadur Khadka was elected president of the NBA, defeating his nearest rival, Hari Krishna Karki of pro-UML progressive panel, by a wide margin of nearly 1000 votes. Maoist-backed candidate for president Ram Nath Mainali, who led the republican panel, finished third in the race. Likewise, Bijay Prasad Mishra of democratic panel was elected general secretary, defeating Hari Phuyal of the progressive panel. This was the first major victory of the democrats in NBA election in a decade. Almost 6000 lawyers including about 3100 from Kathmandu had cast their votes from three dozen polling stations across the country. 54 candidates contested for various 17 positions in the 22nd executive committee -- Peace Is Doable--
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