UN, India reaffirm support while US rethinking Nepal Maoists´ ´Terrorist´ tag
Surya B. Prasai
April 22, 2008
UN, India reaffirm support while US rethinking Nepal Maoists´ ´Terrorist´ tag
Surya B Prasai
The United Nations has called on "all parties to respect the will of the people and the rule of law in the coming weeks as the results are being counted.'' The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) have won 120 of the 240 directly elected seats in the 601-member parliament and 30 percent of the vote for 335 seats elected by proportional representation in Nepal's recently held Constituent Assembly Poll on April 10. The final results are expected to be officially declared by Nepal´s Chief Election Commissioner, Dr. Bhoj Raj Pokhrel next week.
India´s Ambassador to Nepal, Shiv Shanker Mukherjee in his farewell meeting with Prime Minister G.P. Koirala has conveyed his country´s full and unconditional assistance to Nepal once the Maoists form a government. Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee is also expected to make a visit to Kathmandu in the near future to review bilateral relations and seek new areas of technical and economic cooperation for the steadfast economic prosperity of the Nepali people. The Indian Government plans to invite Prachanda to visit New Delhi soon. China and Germany too have committed full political and economic support to Nepal once a democratic government is elected headed by CPN-M.
However the US State Department has chosen to keep the Maoists in its global terror watch list until a thorough review is done in Washington on the positive Nepali developments and democratic gains made, following the generally peaceful CA Poll held on April 10. Thus, despite the Maoists heading the new Nepal Government and Maoist overtures from CP Gajurel, head of international relations bureau, indicating his party´s willingness to work closely with the US and India, the US State Department has chosen to wait until US Ambassador to Nepal, Nancy J. Powell provides a thorough briefing on the overall political and economic situation in Nepal. Powell is expected to be in Washington this week.
Yesterday, Nepali media had prominently carried front page news that the US was expected to remove the Maoists from its global terrorist watch list within a matter of days with just some "technicalities´ remaining to be completed. These hints were based on a meeting in Kathmandu between US Ambassador Nancy J. Powell and Nepali Speaker Subash Nembwang. Earlier the US had congratulated the people of Nepal stating, "Nepal has taken a huge step forward on the path of peace and democracy. In the days and weeks to come as the votes are counted, we urge patience and respect for the results. We stand ready to assist the people of Nepal in their pursuit of a more peaceful, democratic and prosperous future."
According to the US State Department's Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey, "We have an organization being placed on the list of designated foreign terrorists organizations. (It) has legal requirements that are placed on us. We have to honor those legal requirements and we'll certainly do so in the case of Nepal." Casey further stated, "To the broader question... certainly to the extent, you have an organization that moves away from violence and terror and participates in a political process and engages in those kinds of legitimate activities, that would certainly, I think, give people an opportunity to at least look again at that situation and that organization….But at this point, you know there's no change in their status and we'll follow the law as appropriate." The United States had first put the former Maoist rebels on its list of terrorist organizations in 2003.
The big question in Kathmandu now is when the next Nepal Government will be formed. Prachanda yesterday asked the Nepali and international media to be patient and give him a month´s time so that a wider political platform can be included. The Maoists must form the government before the Constituent Assembly sits in the third week of May. They have indicated that once a fully democratic Nepal Government is formed, the current peace process will be quickly concluded, for which no international support is required. However UN Security Council members, most of whom happen to be Nepal´s closest friends in global diplomacy, have expressed alternate views feeling UNMIN´s presence would be desirous until a new constitution is formally declared. UNMIN´s term will be up in June 2008.
Prachanda did make another comment yesterday on Nepalis being able to solve their problems internally, namely on civil-military relations. He stated that the PLA and Nepal Army integration will take place soon and in such an astounding manner the new Nepali ´integration´ model will be considered another global first following the highly acclaimed Nepali CA Poll 2008 which former US President Jimmy and the EU called a successful global model. The Nepal Army has so far refrained from making any comments on PLA-NA integration though it is rumored to be doing its homework seriously.
Surya B Prasai
The United Nations has called on "all parties to respect the will of the people and the rule of law in the coming weeks as the results are being counted.'' The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) have won 120 of the 240 directly elected seats in the 601-member parliament and 30 percent of the vote for 335 seats elected by proportional representation in Nepal's recently held Constituent Assembly Poll on April 10. The final results are expected to be officially declared by Nepal´s Chief Election Commissioner, Dr. Bhoj Raj Pokhrel next week.
India´s Ambassador to Nepal, Shiv Shanker Mukherjee in his farewell meeting with Prime Minister G.P. Koirala has conveyed his country´s full and unconditional assistance to Nepal once the Maoists form a government. Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee is also expected to make a visit to Kathmandu in the near future to review bilateral relations and seek new areas of technical and economic cooperation for the steadfast economic prosperity of the Nepali people. The Indian Government plans to invite Prachanda to visit New Delhi soon. China and Germany too have committed full political and economic support to Nepal once a democratic government is elected headed by CPN-M.
However the US State Department has chosen to keep the Maoists in its global terror watch list until a thorough review is done in Washington on the positive Nepali developments and democratic gains made, following the generally peaceful CA Poll held on April 10. Thus, despite the Maoists heading the new Nepal Government and Maoist overtures from CP Gajurel, head of international relations bureau, indicating his party´s willingness to work closely with the US and India, the US State Department has chosen to wait until US Ambassador to Nepal, Nancy J. Powell provides a thorough briefing on the overall political and economic situation in Nepal. Powell is expected to be in Washington this week.
Yesterday, Nepali media had prominently carried front page news that the US was expected to remove the Maoists from its global terrorist watch list within a matter of days with just some "technicalities´ remaining to be completed. These hints were based on a meeting in Kathmandu between US Ambassador Nancy J. Powell and Nepali Speaker Subash Nembwang. Earlier the US had congratulated the people of Nepal stating, "Nepal has taken a huge step forward on the path of peace and democracy. In the days and weeks to come as the votes are counted, we urge patience and respect for the results. We stand ready to assist the people of Nepal in their pursuit of a more peaceful, democratic and prosperous future."
According to the US State Department's Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey, "We have an organization being placed on the list of designated foreign terrorists organizations. (It) has legal requirements that are placed on us. We have to honor those legal requirements and we'll certainly do so in the case of Nepal." Casey further stated, "To the broader question... certainly to the extent, you have an organization that moves away from violence and terror and participates in a political process and engages in those kinds of legitimate activities, that would certainly, I think, give people an opportunity to at least look again at that situation and that organization….But at this point, you know there's no change in their status and we'll follow the law as appropriate." The United States had first put the former Maoist rebels on its list of terrorist organizations in 2003.
The big question in Kathmandu now is when the next Nepal Government will be formed. Prachanda yesterday asked the Nepali and international media to be patient and give him a month´s time so that a wider political platform can be included. The Maoists must form the government before the Constituent Assembly sits in the third week of May. They have indicated that once a fully democratic Nepal Government is formed, the current peace process will be quickly concluded, for which no international support is required. However UN Security Council members, most of whom happen to be Nepal´s closest friends in global diplomacy, have expressed alternate views feeling UNMIN´s presence would be desirous until a new constitution is formally declared. UNMIN´s term will be up in June 2008.
Prachanda did make another comment yesterday on Nepalis being able to solve their problems internally, namely on civil-military relations. He stated that the PLA and Nepal Army integration will take place soon and in such an astounding manner the new Nepali ´integration´ model will be considered another global first following the highly acclaimed Nepali CA Poll 2008 which former US President Jimmy and the EU called a successful global model. The Nepal Army has so far refrained from making any comments on PLA-NA integration though it is rumored to be doing its homework seriously.