- Parties to ask govt to declare Thaiba as martyr
- Maoist party to ask govt to arrest Sujit BK
- UML withdraws protests
KATHMANDU, April 12: The Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), two major parties in the ruling coalition, buried their differences and came to an agreement by signing a nine-point deal Sunday. Relations between the two parties had soured following the 26 March killing of CPN-UML worker Prachanda Thaiba allegedly by Maoist worker Sujit BK. [break]
Following the agreement the UML has withdrawn its protest programs including parliament boycott.
In the agreement, signed by the chairmen of both the parties at Dashrath Stadium Sunday evening, the Maoist side has agreed to ask the government to immediately arrest the main accused, BK. The Maoist side has also agreed to instruct its party rank and file to cooperate with the authorities for arresting BK.
The Maoist side in the agreement has also admitted as a mistake its failure to take necessary caution in the process of handing over the accused to the authorities.
BK, according to the Maoist side, had escaped while he was being taken to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
Both the parties have agreed to urge the government to declare Thaiba a martyr and provide financial assistance to his family.
Although the UML had earlier been insisting BK as the murderer of Thaiba, the agreement mentions that BK is only an accused in the murder.
The UML has been obstructing the regular business in the parliament charging that the Maoist party has been protecting BK. The UML had demanded that it would continue to disrupt parliament meeting until BK is arrested.
“All our differences have settled with the agreement and the parliamentary stalemate has ended,” said Maoist senior leader and member of the six-member team Narayan Kaji Shrestha.
Expressing confidence that the parliament will run smoothly from Monday, Shrestha said, “We are holding a separate meeting with Nepali Congress tomorrow [Monday] morning and talks with all other political parties to end the stalemate.”
The winter session of the parliament, which started on March 29, was stalled for six times by the UML over the March 26 killing.
Both the parties have agreed to ask the government to provide financial assistance to the family of UML cadre Raj Bahadur Malla in Surkhet, who was allegedly killed by Maoist cadres in the past.
Likewise, the parties have decided to probe the killings in various parts of the country including Surkhet, Dhankuta, Parbat, Kailali, Sankhuwasabha, Lamjung and Baitadi districts.
UML vice chairman and a member of the task-force Ashok Rai said, “The agreement is a step forward for mitigating our differences.”
They have decided to settle all serious issues between the two parties immediately through a high-level mechanism of their representatives.
Interestingly, this is not the first time the two rival communist parties have signed an agreement to stop attacks against each other. The parties have already signed more than half a dozen such agreements pledging that they won’t resort to physical attacks between them.
Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the then UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal had signed an agreement right before the elections to the Constituent Assembly (CA) to avoid physical attacks .
However, many UML and Maoist cadres resorted to serious physical attacks in many parts of the country during the April 2008 elections.
UML central leader Bhim Rawal says, “Agreements have been signed and violated on a number of occasions in the past by the two parties.”
He said failing to abide by the agreements has eroded public confidence in the two parties.
ghanashyam@myrepublica.com
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