Differences on power sharing scuttled accord

KATHMANDU, Nov 11: UCPN (Maoist) floated a time-bound "concrete plan of action" to complete the peace process within a timeline of around two months during the second round of the three-party meeting on Wednesday that ended inconclusively after the UCPN (Maoist) and Nepali Congress differed over power sharing.



Maoist leaders who participated in the meeting of top leaders of the major three parties -- UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and CPN-UML-- said they could not hammer out an agreement once the Nepali Congress leaders "declined" to discuss the power-sharing issue. [break]



However, NC leaders said the talks failed after the Maoists claimed government leadership for themselves as a condition for resolving all the contentious issues.



"They [NC leaders] did not want to discuss power sharing," Maoist leader Dev Gurung told Republica after the meeting, "The NC´s reluctance to discuss power sharing has pushed the parties´ initiative to seek a solution to the political impasse and deadlock over the peace process a step backward."





But a senior NC leader dismissed the Maoist charge and said on condition of anonymity, "The Maoist leaders said there should be a government under their leadership to see all the issues resolved, something that was unacceptable to us".



The leader further added that the meeting became less cordial following the discussion on peace process-related issues. "They accused us of trying to humiliate them by pressing them for a credible plan to complete the peace process," said the leader, who preferred anonymity because leaders have agreed not to share details of the meeting with media.



The first round of talks of the three parties held at Hattiban Resort during Tihar had also been inconclusive as they differed over priorities. The NC had sought to settle the peace process issues before the parties reached an agreement on a power-sharing modality. But the Maoists wanted an agreement on formation of a new government before addressing issues related to management of the Maoist combatants.



Leaders said even during the Gokarna meeting the NC continued to stick to its stance that the peace process issues should be resolved first. Republica´s repeated attempts to get comments from Nepali Congress leaders who participated in the meeting failed.



CPN-UML leaders, however, said at the meeting that the peace process and government formation should be moved forward simultaneously, a stance that the CPN-UML had also put forward at the first round meeting at Hattiban Resort in Kathmandu.



"It is a positive development to get a concrete plan from the Maoists to complete the peace process with a specific timeline," said Ishwor Pokharel, CPN-UML general secretary who also participated in the meeting.



According to a senior leader, the plan has spelled out a timeline for bringing Maoist combatants under the command and control of the Special Committee, formation of a secretariat to advance integration and rehabilitation of ex-Maoist fighters, and regrouping of combatants for integration and rehabilitation.



"We have proposed to bring our combatants under the Special Committee immediately after the formation of a new coalition government," Gurung said when asked about the plan.



The Maoist proposal has been tied with the formation of a new government, Gurung added.



In a statement issued after the day-long meeting, Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala and CPN-UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal said they discussed the Maoist proposal. They further said they agreed to expedite constitution-making work at the high-level all-party task force lead by Dahal while noting the "positive" progress made by the taskforce in resolving some contentious issues relating to constitution drafting.



In yet another decision, the parties said they agreed to continue talks on power sharing. The parties are meeting again on November 15.



Leaders hopeful of budget



The meeting also briefly took up the deadlock over the budget. Leaders said that they are hopeful of the country getting a new budget by November 16. "The budget will be brought in by the end of Kartik [November 16]," Pokharel said.



A top leader also said, "The Maoist are positive about resolving the deadlock over a budget."



But Maoist leader Gurung said the budget is linked with the formation of the government.



kiran@myrepublica.com

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