Nepal: Peace Talk Deadline
By Indra Adhikari
Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday evening announced the deadline for Communist Party (Maoists) to
come for negotiating table by the 13th of January. The decision was taken by the cabinet a day after the High Level
Peace Committee asked it to do so. He said the government was ready to find a political solution of the crisis the
country has been facing for the last nine years. He also assured that all agendas raised by the rebels would be
discussed at the table. He said that the government would guarantee the security of the negotiating team of the Maoists.
The government has said that if the rebels do meet the deadline, it would head for general election. The King had given
him the mandate to start parliamentary elections by Mid April 2005 when he was appointed to the post some five months
back. The government has been arguing that elections were possible as the security forces were able to ensure security.
But Maoists have repeatedly said that they would not allow government to hold elections except elections to constituent
assembly, their prime demand.
The Prime Minister's office said that he would initiate talks with other political parties and leaders of civil society
for modalities of peace talks.
The government's deadline for peace-talks has drawn mixed reaction from the political leaders. At a face-to-face program
in the capital the following day, leaders of political parties said they doubt over a positive response from the rebels
for peace-talks deadlines. Similar calls have been made in the past by the government but without any results. "The
appeal was not serious," said Nepali Congress leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Paudel. He argues that
king is directing the government for such actions. However, Bam Dev Gautam of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist
and Leninist), the largest coalition partner in the government welcomed the decision.
In response, a central committee member of Maoists Amar Sharma alias Pratap said that his party would not hold any talks
with government appointed by the king. He termed the government ultimatum as mere ploy. He was addressing a mass in
Pyuthan, newspapers report said.
Maoists have been demanding a direct talk with the king after the second round of peace talks failed to reach any
decision. The rebels have already sat two times on negotiating table with the government but both the talks ended
without any progress. Both the warring groups accused one another for failure of the peace negotiations. The last peace
talks ended in limbo after a serious debate over squeezing security forces within five kilometer from the barrack. The
rebels said formerly the government agreed but failed to implement after security authorities denied the decision.
Security forces are controlled by the King and as and such Maoists demand direct talks with him.
ENDS