UN Secretary General says UNMIN will leave Nepal after July
Surya B. Prasai
May 19, 2008
According to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, there is no possibility of extension of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), the mission support which his Special Representative and Resident Coordinator will provide in future. According to Ban, " These are critical times for long-term stability in Nepal, and the United Nations will remain by the side of the people and leaders of Nepal in the historic tasks of political and social transformation on which they have embarked."
Ban stated that despite last month's landmark Constituent Assembly elections, which was generally deemed successful by all sides, Nepal still has a long way to go in completing the peace process. He felt the CA polls were a historic occasion adding that "the desire and commitment of the people of Nepal for peace and change was the driving force behind this success." Ban also cautioned that "the election is only a milestone in the peace process .but the real work of addressing the nation's deeper socio-economic difficulties and drafting a constitution that reflects the will of the entire nation only begins now." The Secretary-General mentioned, he is encouraged by the commitment and cooperation of the CPN-Maoists, the largest party in the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, and called on other political parties to remain focused on Nepalīs long-term interests.
The United Nations Mission in Nepal(UNMIN) had earlier planned to end its mission in Nepal effective July 23, 2008 following its one year stay in Nepal. When recently questioned on Kantipur FM, UNMIN Head Ian Martin noted, "We are indeed planning to close UNMIN by the end of our current mandate, and I have notified our staff of that. That does not mean that the United Nations is not interested in continuing to support Nepalīs peace process." Martin stated that the United Nations was in Nepal before UNMIN and will continue on, though , if the new government, once it is formed, requests continuing assistance from the United Nations, he would put the request in front of the UN Secretary General.
Based on Nepali media sources, UNMIN has set up an internal working committee to manage physical structures and materials before departing from Nepal. It is not sure whether UNMIN plans to take back the large amount of logistical equipment and furniture that it brought to Nepal. UNMIN administration had recently made a reduction in arms monitors from 186 to 82 merging the Far Western regionīs Dhangadhi and the Nepalgunj offices. Similarly, it merged the Pokhara and Kathmandu offices to save costs. Some of the top UNMIN officials had departed from Nepal recently including chief of political affairs John Norris, chief of administration department Kartsen Harrel, deputy chief of mission Tamrat Samuel and chief arms monitor Jan Eric Wilhelmsen. Another 250 international staff were in the process of packing their bags.
UNMIN was tasked with assisting the peace process in Nepal, but recently after Nepalīs politicians started showing disinterest in its work for a further term renewal, its extension was termed a hard bet. Nepali leaders, including Prachanda from CPN-M and his foreign relations spokesperson CP Gajurel had indicated their unwillingness to extend UNMIN beyond the current term of July 23. The Maoists number two, Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai, also did not show any positive thoughts on its renewal in recent press remarks.
In an earlier attempt to renew UNMINīs mandate in January, there was stiff geo-strategic pressure to tone down its mandate, despite Ian Martin being enthusiastic in giving it a broader political advisory role. UNMIN had been tasked by the UN Security Council to manage the arms and armed personnel monitoring of the Nepal Army and the Maoist combatants transitioning to a new stable democratic order. UNMINīs undermining had already begun as soon as some among the former seven party leaders came to know about their defeat in the CA Poll. Martin was genuinely seen as helping the peace process evolve by some in the Nepali media, although Prime Minister GP Koirala and Prachanda were both considered inwardly in favor of solving Nepalīs remaining last notch of the peace deal themselves, namely, the integration of the two armies and their arms based on mutual consultation with the Nepali disciplined forces.
There is some speculation that a third party more oriented to international post-conflict rehabilitation and disaster recovery, beyond the UN, might be sought for periodic advice by the Maoists and the Nepal Government to look deeper into future integration issues, such as humanitarian interventions based post resettlement and rehabilitation, psycho-social trauma counseling, youth mobilization for long term peace building, and peace education, which has been an emphasis of Nepalīs Peace Ministry.
Recently Ian Martin appeared optimistic in his interview to Kantipur FM on Nepalīs new Constituent Assembly, "I think the important thing that has been achieved is the election of a genuinely inclusive Constituent Assembly. That was the main task that UNMIN came here to help make possible, and there have been many points along the way when people either doubted that the election would happen or doubted that it would produce a genuinely representative Constituent Assembly. And even if there are some groups that donīt feel themselves fully represented, or indeed are not represented proportionately, nonetheless, I think everybody agrees that the Constituent Assembly is the most inclusive body there will ever have been in Nepal. For example, a body with 33 per cent of women means that Nepal goes right up to quite close to the top of elected bodies around the world in terms of the representation of women." He also clarified that he would not be leaving Nepal soon.
However, Nepal's Finance Minister, Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, has made a repeated fresh criticism of UNMIN, which seems to be coming in fresh doses from those beyond the former seven party alliance for not being able to address recent Maoist violations, and terming it weak in not being able to carry out its stated mandate.
The UN Security Council established UNMIN initially with a 12-month mandate, which expired in January 2008. In December 2007, after the second postponement of the constituent assembly elections, the UN Security Council extended the mission mandate to July 22 on the Nepal Governmentīs request for a six-month extension which hovered around conducting the CA Poll, since conducted successfully on April 10 and internationally endorsed.
Ban stated that despite last month's landmark Constituent Assembly elections, which was generally deemed successful by all sides, Nepal still has a long way to go in completing the peace process. He felt the CA polls were a historic occasion adding that "the desire and commitment of the people of Nepal for peace and change was the driving force behind this success." Ban also cautioned that "the election is only a milestone in the peace process .but the real work of addressing the nation's deeper socio-economic difficulties and drafting a constitution that reflects the will of the entire nation only begins now." The Secretary-General mentioned, he is encouraged by the commitment and cooperation of the CPN-Maoists, the largest party in the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, and called on other political parties to remain focused on Nepalīs long-term interests.
The United Nations Mission in Nepal(UNMIN) had earlier planned to end its mission in Nepal effective July 23, 2008 following its one year stay in Nepal. When recently questioned on Kantipur FM, UNMIN Head Ian Martin noted, "We are indeed planning to close UNMIN by the end of our current mandate, and I have notified our staff of that. That does not mean that the United Nations is not interested in continuing to support Nepalīs peace process." Martin stated that the United Nations was in Nepal before UNMIN and will continue on, though , if the new government, once it is formed, requests continuing assistance from the United Nations, he would put the request in front of the UN Secretary General.
Based on Nepali media sources, UNMIN has set up an internal working committee to manage physical structures and materials before departing from Nepal. It is not sure whether UNMIN plans to take back the large amount of logistical equipment and furniture that it brought to Nepal. UNMIN administration had recently made a reduction in arms monitors from 186 to 82 merging the Far Western regionīs Dhangadhi and the Nepalgunj offices. Similarly, it merged the Pokhara and Kathmandu offices to save costs. Some of the top UNMIN officials had departed from Nepal recently including chief of political affairs John Norris, chief of administration department Kartsen Harrel, deputy chief of mission Tamrat Samuel and chief arms monitor Jan Eric Wilhelmsen. Another 250 international staff were in the process of packing their bags.
UNMIN was tasked with assisting the peace process in Nepal, but recently after Nepalīs politicians started showing disinterest in its work for a further term renewal, its extension was termed a hard bet. Nepali leaders, including Prachanda from CPN-M and his foreign relations spokesperson CP Gajurel had indicated their unwillingness to extend UNMIN beyond the current term of July 23. The Maoists number two, Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai, also did not show any positive thoughts on its renewal in recent press remarks.
In an earlier attempt to renew UNMINīs mandate in January, there was stiff geo-strategic pressure to tone down its mandate, despite Ian Martin being enthusiastic in giving it a broader political advisory role. UNMIN had been tasked by the UN Security Council to manage the arms and armed personnel monitoring of the Nepal Army and the Maoist combatants transitioning to a new stable democratic order. UNMINīs undermining had already begun as soon as some among the former seven party leaders came to know about their defeat in the CA Poll. Martin was genuinely seen as helping the peace process evolve by some in the Nepali media, although Prime Minister GP Koirala and Prachanda were both considered inwardly in favor of solving Nepalīs remaining last notch of the peace deal themselves, namely, the integration of the two armies and their arms based on mutual consultation with the Nepali disciplined forces.
There is some speculation that a third party more oriented to international post-conflict rehabilitation and disaster recovery, beyond the UN, might be sought for periodic advice by the Maoists and the Nepal Government to look deeper into future integration issues, such as humanitarian interventions based post resettlement and rehabilitation, psycho-social trauma counseling, youth mobilization for long term peace building, and peace education, which has been an emphasis of Nepalīs Peace Ministry.
Recently Ian Martin appeared optimistic in his interview to Kantipur FM on Nepalīs new Constituent Assembly, "I think the important thing that has been achieved is the election of a genuinely inclusive Constituent Assembly. That was the main task that UNMIN came here to help make possible, and there have been many points along the way when people either doubted that the election would happen or doubted that it would produce a genuinely representative Constituent Assembly. And even if there are some groups that donīt feel themselves fully represented, or indeed are not represented proportionately, nonetheless, I think everybody agrees that the Constituent Assembly is the most inclusive body there will ever have been in Nepal. For example, a body with 33 per cent of women means that Nepal goes right up to quite close to the top of elected bodies around the world in terms of the representation of women." He also clarified that he would not be leaving Nepal soon.
However, Nepal's Finance Minister, Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, has made a repeated fresh criticism of UNMIN, which seems to be coming in fresh doses from those beyond the former seven party alliance for not being able to address recent Maoist violations, and terming it weak in not being able to carry out its stated mandate.
The UN Security Council established UNMIN initially with a 12-month mandate, which expired in January 2008. In December 2007, after the second postponement of the constituent assembly elections, the UN Security Council extended the mission mandate to July 22 on the Nepal Governmentīs request for a six-month extension which hovered around conducting the CA Poll, since conducted successfully on April 10 and internationally endorsed.
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