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Kathmandu Thursday November 22, 2001 Marga 07, 2058.
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Maoists
signal breaking away from peace talks
Prime Minister stunned, urges Prachanda to reconsider
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Nov. 21
– After holding three rounds of peace negotiations with the government, the rebel
Maoist leadership today dropped a bombshell: it announced that the justification for the
talks and the four month-long cease-fire were both over.
Issuing the statement
late Wednesday, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Prachanda, a.k.a.
"Comrade Pushpa Kamal Dahal" said, "We make it clear with this statement
that our bid to establish peace has been rendered unsuccessful by reactionary and fascist
forces."
Ominously, he also
warned that, "due to this situation, the justification for the cease-fire also does
not exist." He emphasised that the doors are open for the talks under a "new
process" without clarifying what the process meant.
Although Prachanda
stopped short of explicitly saying that the rebels are pulling out of the talks, his
statement is being interpreted in government circles as one which effectively puts an end
to the peace talks.
Reacting to the
statement, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba told The Kathmandu Post, "I am surprised
and shocked at his statement. I honestly urge him to sit for the fourth round of dialogue
and not to jeopardise it." He added it was also the Maoists’ duty to ensure that
the bloodbath does not recur in the nation.
The Prime Minister, who
has taken some bold moves to appease the Maoists in recent times, went a step further.
"After agreeing for the fourth round of talks, it is irresponsible and dishonest on
the part of the Maoists to pull out of the talks." He stressed that the talks are
essential for the peaceful solution.
Some analysts believe
that the Maoist strongman put out the statement under growing pressure from his military
wing, especially from Ram Bahadur Thapa a.k.a Comrade Badal, the main military strategists
of the Maoist. Badal and his men are reportedly sore with the top Maoist leadership for
holding talks with the government.
Prachanda’s signed
statement issued today makes it clear that the government’s refusal to hold elections
to a constituent assembly, which the Maoists have been demanding of late, was the main
reason for terming the talks "fruitless."
We want to make it
clear that the imperialist and reactionary forces have made it impossible to find a
political solution to the problem through the talks," he said in the statement.
"This situation has ended the relevance of the cease-fire…We have no alternative
but to continue our struggle against imperialist forces."
The Maoists, before the
third round of dialogue with the government that was held on November 13, had put on hold
their key demand of turning Nepal into a republic state. However, they have been insisting
on the other two demands, namely the formation of an interim government and holding
elections for constituent assembly. Many in the ruling and opposition parties believe that
it was the Maoists’ ploy to achieve their goal of republic.
In his statement today,
the NCP (Maoist) chairman lambasted the "reactionary forces" for terming their
demand for constituent assembly "needless" and "irrelevant". "We
believe that in today’s context, an election for constituent assembly will achieve a
republican Constitution."
Meanwhile, some
political parties are urging the government to gird up for the hard times ahead. Chairman
of Rastriya Prajatantra Party Surya Bahadur Thapa said, "Prachanda has made one-sided
allegations and decisions. The government must now gird up to face the coming
situation."
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