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April, 2003 |
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Political |
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Waiting
for Talks While
the peace talks with the Maoists are still being eagerly awaited after
the late January declaration of immediate ceasefire in the seven year
insurgency, a code-of-conduct (COC) has been signed by the
representatives of the government and the Maoist rebels listing down 22
points about what is allowed and what is not for the insurgents and the
government during the ceasefire period. Meanwhile His
Majesty the King has left for India for a pilgrimage though political
analysts say the visit is also likely to have some political
implications. Upon return from India, HM the King is scheduled to go to
Dhangadhi (far-western region) for a civic reception in His Majesty’s
honour in the same style as in Biratnagar (the eastern region). However, the
opposition political parties (Nepali Congress and the non-Maoist
leftists) are still smelling a rat on the entire peace process which,
they say, is being used by the gun-wielding parties – the king and the
Maoists – to undermine the importance of all the other political
parties. Most importantly, they have now formally concluded an
understanding to the effect that they will be happy either way if the
parliament is restored or a powerful government is set up with all party
representation. This was done to put a more united front against the
king, say the political analysts. The month also saw
a number of developments which were interpreted as something that may
jeopardize the peace process. One such
development was the case filed in the court against the Maoist leaders
including Prachanda and Dr. Baburam Bhattarai alleging them of
masterminding the Maoist attack at Bhiman police barracks of Sindhuli
district. The Patan Appellate Court later issued warrants to arrest both
of the Maoist leaders. Given the fact that Dr. Bhattarai is the leader
of the negotiation team from the Maoist and that one of the points of
the COC prevents both of the parties to detain anyone from the other
side, the analysts say if Prachanda and/or Dr. Bhattarai surrender to
the court, the police will not be able to incarcerate them. This will
simply undermine the court’s authority. Though Narayan
Singh Pun, the government representative for talks with the Maoists,
issued a statement assuring the Maoist negotiators that they would not
be arrested if they come for negotiations. Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a
member of Maoist negotiation team who is among those against whom the
Patan Appellate Court has inssued warrant, has made himself public, held
a press conference and demanded withdrawal of the court case. Pun has
also informed that the government has procured enough foodgrains to feed
the Maoist cadre so that they would not have the need to go on a looting
spree again. The government also has appointed Kamal Thapa, former
Foreign Minister and Central Committee Member of the Prime Minister
Chand’s party RPP as a member of the negotiation team. Another development
of the month was the all party meet called by Prime Minister Chand
(before the COC was signed) which was boycotted by the major political
parties such as the Nepali congress and the CPN-UML. Similar meeting
called by the Prime Minister a moth ago was also boycotted by the major
parties. However, the meeting this time was not boycotted by RPP (the
Prime Minister’s Party). Anti-corruption In the
anti-corruption drive, the month of March began with the news that the
Commission for the Investigation on the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has
acquitted former communication ministers Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta and
Radha Krishna Mainali from the charge of corruption labeled on them on
the case of allowing import of cellular mobile telephone sets.
Similarly, former minister Khum Bahadur Khadka too is reported to be
acquitted from the charge of corruption in the Bakraha river project.
Though Mainali thus gets a clean chit, Gupta and Khadka are still facing
another corruption charge for not being able to show the source of the
huge property they have amassed. Meanwhile, the
special court sent Devendra Wagle, the son of former Minister Chiranjibi
Wagle on judicial remand on corruption charges. Father Wagle himself is
on judicial bail for corruption charges. CIAA has also arrested Khemraj
Bhattarai, Director of the Department of Customs, for investigation on
the charge of corruption. More important
development in the anti-corruption front was the report submitted to HM
the King by the Judicial Commission set up last year to probe into the
source of property of the persons who held some public office since
1990. Details of the report were yet to be made public when this
magazine went to the press. The month of March also featured the convention of the lawyers of the country, in which the lawyers came up with a strong criticism of the government. It declared the Chand government as illegal and called for immediate elections. According to reports, though the majority of the participants were in favour of holding the constituent assembly as demanded by the Maoists, there was no unanimity on the issue. |
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