On October 13, Nepali Congress General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula had handed over the first draft to Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal with consent of the key NC and UML leaders. [break]
The draft had all the major points included (some of which were amended in the course of negotiations) in the final agreement signed on Tuesday evening except the preamble.
During the last two-and-half weeks since the first draft was prepared, there were several rounds of negotiations mainly between the Nepali Congress and UCPN (Maoist). The main bone of contention continued to persist on four major issues: standard norms, mandate of the to-be-formed directorate under the Nepal Army (NA), number of combatants to be integrated in the NA and rehabilitation package to be given to the combatants.
The NC and UML were for integrating 5,000 combatants and providing Rs 300,000 to Rs 500,000 to each combatant, while the Maoists insisted on integrating 7,000 combatants and distributing Rs 700,000 to Rs 1 million each as rehabilitation package.
But more than these differences, it’s the deepening intra-party rift in the UCPN (Maoist) between the establishment faction and Baidya group that made the deal elusive. Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal wanted to bring the Baidya faction on board the deal and made painful efforts toward that end. At times Dahal even seemed in two minds about signing the deal.
On the eve of the three-party meeting in Baluwatar on October 19, a day before Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai embarked on his India visit, the NC, UML and UCPN (Maoist) negotiators further narrowed down their differences on the draft, raising hopes that the deal could be clinched the next day.
Prime Minister Bhattarai was keen on signing the deal on that very day but Dahal wanted some more time to persuade the Baidya faction. At the end, Dahal coaxed the NC leaders in giving him some more time. But his attempt to persuade the Baidya faction continues to go in vain.
The informal negotiations picked momentum after Prime Minister Bhattarai returned from India and the leaders of the top three parties agreed to meet at Park Village Resort in Budhanilkantha on October 31. Many senior leaders had told the media that the deal would be signed at the meeting.
There was hardly any negotiation at the Park Village Resort meeting on Monday as Maoist Chairman Dahal, at the outset, said that he would prepare a draft of the agreement in consultation with NC President Sushil Koirala and UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal and present in Tuesday’s meeting.
In the meantime, Dahal gave NC General Secretary Sitaula his amendment proposal in the draft agreement.
He wanted changes in the wordings of the agreement on standard norms for integration, mandate of the proposed NA directorate and integration number. Instead of 5,000-7,000 combatants to be integrated in the NA directorate as mentioned in the original draft, Dahal proposed that it should be written as “up to 7,000”.
Similarly, on standard norms he wanted to write, “standard norms of the security forces and integration” and on the mandate of the directorate Dahal had proposed that “the mandate of the directorate will be to carry out development works, forest security, industrial security, calamity management and as decided by the government.”
NC had major objections to the change in the wordings of the standard norms and mandate of the directorate (mainly that the government can decide the mandate of the directorate in the future) and sent its General Secretary Sitaula to Dahal’s residence to convey its message.
At the meeting, Sitaula told Dahal that NC would not agree to any change of wording on standard norms and directorate’s mandate.
The deal was finally sealed at a meeting held at Radisson Hotel on Tuesday afternoon attended by Dahal, Koirala and Khanal and signed at the prime minister’s residence in Baluwatar in the evening. Three members of the taskforce -- Sitaula, Maoist leader Barshaman Pun and UML leader Bhim Rawal -- were also present at the Radisson meeting.
At the meeting, Dahal gave in to NC’s demand on integration norms and the mandate of the NA’s directorate, while NC and UML gave concessions on the integration number and rehabilitation package.
The rehabilitation package was raised from Rs 400,000 to Rs 600,000 to Rs 500,000 to Rs 800,000 (in cash) and Rs 600,000 to Rs 900,000 (training and support) to be given in two tranches within two fiscal years and the integration number was fixed at up to 6,500.
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