Negotiation After Cease-fire
Crucial Phase In Peace Process

By Dr Bishnu Raj Upreti

THE hope to attain peace in Nepal is arising after the declaration of cease-fire last month by the Maoists. This cease-fire is only the beginning and very fragile stage of peace process. It may break without any further progress or can turn into lasting peace, but that depends upon the genuine commitment of the Maoists, the government and other main political parties.

Stages

The next stage after cease-fire is the negotiation. Negotiation is a process of reaching a conclusion acceptable to all involved parties to restore lasting peace in Nepal. Negotiation has to pass through different stages to reach the final agreement.

Preparation is the first stage. This is a continuous process of searching, gathering information, agreeing general objectives and formulating overall framework of strategy. The informal discussion between the government side and the Maoist leaders, and meetings and discussions with leaders of main political parties and civil society leaders are part of the preparation stage.

The second stage is exploring. Based on the outcome of the preparation, the Maoists and the government's negotiation team exchange their views, understand each other's views, they bunch or breakdown issues as appropriate. This stage will concentrate to further discuss the three main conditions (i.e., golmech sammelan, interim government and election for constituent assembly) as proposed by the Maoists and counter proposals (if any from the government or political parties). Constructive attitude and behaviour from both parties is extremely essential in this stage to move further.

Signalling is the third stage. In this stage the representatives of both the government and the Maoists explain their positions and indicate their willingness to make compromise and concessions. For example, if one party says 'we wouldn't agree to this', this means 'we could make an exception this time'. In this stage both parties have to be alert on use of confusing words and sentences carrying dual meanings. Parties sitting in the negotiation table should watch non-verbal communication (facial expression, signals, postures and gestures) to understand other party's signal of compromise.
The fourth stage is proposing. This is an important step in negotiation where both parties bring their concerns more vividly and concretely. This is the crucial stage of advancing negotiation. At this stage the parties in negotiation concentrate more on general principles and show flexibility on specific details. The negotiation could break in this stage if one party is too rigid.

The next is packaging. This is a very crucial stage where both parties want to convincingly influence each other to get more from the deal. The main questions in this stage are who gets how much of what and when. They need to know concessions, bring as many options as possible and try to bridge the gaps and differences. The positive pressure from civil society, political parties and international community is extremely essential.

The sixth stage is bargaining. Everything up to this stage is conditional. Either party could say 'if you were ready to …(that and that) then we would be prepared to …(this and this). This is again extremely fragile stage where negotiation could break when parties in negotiation are not ready for some compromises and concessions.

Closing is the seventh step. This is relatively easy and less risky stage of negotiation. In this stage negotiation reaches its end, outlining last concessions, summary of position, potential threats and risks, agreeing options and adjournment.

Agreeing and signing stage is the final stage of negotiation where written agreement containing all conditions is made and signed by both parties. This stage also identifies if some sort of ratification is needed.

Lasting Peace

As we see in negotiation process in Sri Lanka, Palestine and other many conflicts around the world, negotiation is not a straightforward process. In any stage one or both parties want to maintain their strong position, show resistance, exert pressure (internal/external), which could lead to postponement, temporary suspension or break of negotiation. Success of negotiation depends upon the preparation, bargaining power, bargaining range (the difference between the maximum and the minimum settlement points on either or both sides), tactics (step by step method used to implement the strategy) and balancing transparency and confidentiality. We Nepalese people wish that the eight years of bloody conflict will end and turn to lasting peace from this negotiation.

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