Negotiate in earnest

The much-awaited three-party talks have once again ended inconclusively. The meeting today was an exact replay of the last meeting: leaders of the top three parties staked claim over leadership of the next government and were unwilling to concede any ground. After listening to the positions of the NC and UML, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the chairman of the UCPN (Maoist), said there was no point negotiating if NC and UML were still opposed to his party leading the government.



If the parties´ wanted to repeat their past stances and were unwilling to start negotiations afresh, what was the point in meeting again and raising expectations? We are disappointed that the parties are not negotiating in earnest to find a common ground.



The talks have failed once again precisely because the parties have obsessively focused on the question of government leadership and have left more important and common issues on which they have made good progress in recent times. The right approach would have been to build on the current achievements and maintain momentum in that direction.



The agreement between the government and the Maoist party to send off UNMIN and set up an alternative monitoring mechanism is a positive step; so is the handover of the Maoist combatants to the Special Committee. The next logical step would have been to discuss the modality for integration and rehabilitation of the combatants, which would have created ground for power-sharing. But neither the Maoists nor the NC or UML seemed interested in negotiating the key issues of the peace process and were, instead, in a hurry to lay claim to government leadership. That´s unfortunate to say the least.



Here is our modest proposal: The key issue in the peace process is the number of combatants to be integrated in security agencies, mainly the Nepal Army, and modality for such integration. We are not convinced with the Maoist party´s argument that, with the handover of its combatants, it has already become a civilian party and should get government leadership. The Maoist party should reach at least a gentlemen´s agreement with the other parties about the number of combatants to be integrated in security agencies and agree on a clear roadmap for integration and rehabilitation.



If Maoists agree to such a roadmap, the other parties should be ready to accept a consensus government under Maoist leadership. Only a consensus government can facilitate the peace process and constitution-writing without which the country faces the risk of political derailment.

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