Will the Security Council extend UNMIN's mandate?
Rajneesh Bhandari
March 20, 2010
The United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), a special political mission in support of the peace process in Nepal has a mandate to stay in Nepal till 15 May 2010. Now the big question is: will the security council extend UNMIN's mandate? The Security Council had extended UNMIN's mandate for the fifth time on 21 January 2010, as per the request of the Government of Nepal.
But now the time has changed and so has the relationship between the government and the UNMIN. Nepal's ministers have strongly criticized UNMIN's refusal to provide data of the combatants inside the cantonment. The relationship has further went wrong after UN's Under Secretary General B L Pascoe in his three day visit to Nepal termed the criticism against UNMIN as "cheap shots", "boring" and "absurd". He had also accused the political parties of criticizing UNMIN to cover up their own failures. Nepal government, after a cabinet meeting termed Pascoe's remarks "violated diplomatic norms".
UNMIN was established in response to the letter to the Secretary-General sent on 9 August 2006, in which the then Seven-Party Alliance Government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) requested United Nations' assistance in creating a free and fair atmosphere for the election of the Constituent Assembly and the entire peace process.
But now the extension of UNMIN's term could only be possible if Nepal government requests the Security Council for the extension. The present government is less likely to do so because senior ministers have publicly said that UNMIN"s role has been unsupportive to the government. However Nepal Maoists want UNMIN to continue till the successful completion of Nepal's peace process.
But now the time has changed and so has the relationship between the government and the UNMIN. Nepal's ministers have strongly criticized UNMIN's refusal to provide data of the combatants inside the cantonment. The relationship has further went wrong after UN's Under Secretary General B L Pascoe in his three day visit to Nepal termed the criticism against UNMIN as "cheap shots", "boring" and "absurd". He had also accused the political parties of criticizing UNMIN to cover up their own failures. Nepal government, after a cabinet meeting termed Pascoe's remarks "violated diplomatic norms".
UNMIN was established in response to the letter to the Secretary-General sent on 9 August 2006, in which the then Seven-Party Alliance Government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) requested United Nations' assistance in creating a free and fair atmosphere for the election of the Constituent Assembly and the entire peace process.
But now the extension of UNMIN's term could only be possible if Nepal government requests the Security Council for the extension. The present government is less likely to do so because senior ministers have publicly said that UNMIN"s role has been unsupportive to the government. However Nepal Maoists want UNMIN to continue till the successful completion of Nepal's peace process.
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