All Party Mandate
AS the second round of peace talks between the government and Communist Party
of Nepal (Maoist) is being held in the near future, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba
convened an all-party meeting in Kathmandu the other day in order to seek suggestions and
support from all political forces in the country for the issues to be discussed in the
talks. This must be taken as an attempt by the Prime Minister to seek a national mandate
for the forthcoming peace talks. In the meeting, representatives of different political
parties strongly stressed for the need in making the dialogue successful and called upon
both the government and the Maoists to advance the peace process in order to end the
six-year old insurgency and restore peace in the country. The nation has had to suffer a
lot because of the violence perpetrated in the name of insurgency in the last six years.
Violence never serves the interest of the nation and the people. Development and progress
are possible only in an atmosphere of peace, harmony, mutual understanding and
cooperation. This is what the nation and the people are demanding at present. It must be
understood that the main enemies of the country and people at present are massive poverty,
backwardness, disease and hunger. These are the issues that need to be attacked for the
progress and prosperity of the nation. In order to achieve the lofty goal of alleviating
poverty and getting rid of all other social and economic evils, a common and collective
approach and cooperation of all political forces, people and civil society are necessary.
For this, the Maoist problem needs to be solved politically and peacefully. Against this
background, the peace process has already begun, which needs to be given continuity and
made fruitful. The government is committed to the peace talks and has made all efforts to
create a congenial atmosphere for the peace process. However, the other side also needs to
be equally serious and committed to the peace process. Some recent activities carried out
by the Maoists do not seem compatible with their earlier commitment. Both the government
and Maoists have announced the halt of all forms of offensive activities, but the Maoists
continue to carry arms and explosives, which by no means helps the peace talks. In such a
situation, Maoists need to be honest and sincere to their earlier promises and shun all
forms of offensive activities like intimidation, threat, extortion and making provocative
statements. This was one of the concerns raised by all political parties in the all-party
meeting. Thus, both government and Maoist need to be sincere and committed to talks and
make the peace process a success.
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