The prime minister said he is not for further delaying the task of categorization as it is already too late to commence the work.[break]
“I am also for commencing the tasks of categorization only after resolving all the major contentious issues. But we failed to settle the issues even after holding several rounds of meetings,” the prime minister said while responding to lawmakers´ queries at the meeting of parliament´s State Affairs Committee (SAC) on Sunday.
He said there is no point in further delaying the categorization of the combatants. “Categorization of the combatants will take around three to four weeks and we can resolve the issues at the same time simultaneously,” he argued.
However, lawmakers from the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML opposed the prime minister´s proposal. Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, Arjun Joshi, Jagdish Narsingh KC and Umakant Chaudhary of NC were against the idea.
They are for fixing the integration numbers, modality and norms, rank harmonization and preparing the rehabilitation package before categorization.
“There is no point in starting the categorization process without first resolving the aforementioned issues,” Mahat said at the meeting.
The prime minister claimed that the government was doing much spadework with regard to advancing the peace process through formal as well as informal channels at the top political level. “We are near consensus on most of the issues and only some of the matters are yet to be settled. And rest assured that the result will come very soon,” Bhattarai said.
While responding to questions from the lawmakers, the prime minister asserted that the government has made a good start with regard to advancing the peace process within a couple of days after he assumed office.
Stating that the move to hand over the keys of arms containers to the Special Committee was a tangible progress, he also claimed that the decision to end dual security arrangement to senior Maoist leaders was fully implemented under his leadership. “All the ex-combatants earlier deployed for the security of Maoist leaders have reached, along with their weapons, to the cantonments,” he said.
APPOINT HEADS, MEMBERS IN CONSTITUTIONAL BODIES: SAC
At the end of the meeting, the SAC directed the prime minister to appoint members and heads of constitutional bodies within a month and inform the House panel immediately.
Top posts at various constitutional bodies, including the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Public Service Commission and others have been lying vacant for years.
The committee had also issued similar directives to earlier governments led by Jhalanath Khanal and Madhav Kumar Nepal.
CHOPPER RIDE AT PARTY´S RIDE
When UML lawmaker Raj Bahadur Budha questioned the prime minister if it was not ironical to use helicopters to attend the party´s functions in far-flung districts while using Mustang vehicle in the capital, the latter clarified that the party would pay the helicopter fare.
“It is true that I have been using helicopters to attend the party´s functions but I have issued clear instructions to all concerned not to pay for such visits from the state coffers,” he said.
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