The visit of the UN mission headed by Staffan de Mistura seems to have taken place without adequate homework, mainly, on the part of the domestic forces. The lack of harmony between the seven-party alliance (SPA) government and the CPN-Maoist on arms management is the only issue on which the success or failure of this mission hinges. Going by the 12-point and the later 8-point agreements, no problem should have arisen as these agreements are clear on the issue. However, the government’s unilateral and secret letter to UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, followed by Maoist chairman Prachanda’s letter, three weeks later, to Annan, showed the contradictory positions of the two sides. The UN office cannot have been ignorant of the row in Nepal over arms management before it headed for Nepal. Nevertheless, the UN team cannot be expected to extend its stay here indefinitely, as international organisations have their own work culture, procedures and limitations. So one wonders if it was proper on the part of Deputy Prime Minister Amik Sherchan to request it to extend its sojourn in Nepal. Mistura is leaving for New York today.

To speed up the peace process and the progress towards constituent assembly (CA) polls, both the sides need to present to the UN team their unified position on arms management. Otherwise the peace process is likely to be delayed and the logical conclusion of the Jana Andolan II may be endangered. However, there is still hope as the consultations continue. While the question of UN role remains uncertain because of the disagreement over the arms question, the failure of the army chief, Pyar Jung Thapa, and other senior army officers, to go to the high-level investigation commission has raised concern whether the top brass can get away with such things. However, the report that the army chief is to appear before the commission today has had some soothing effect.

Some of the actions of the armymen in recent days have led to doubts whether the army has changed with the times, in the process weakening the claim that the army’s weapons do not have to be supervised by the UN the way the Maoist arms have to. The main concern of the general people is that peace should be made permanent, democracy established and stre-ngthened, and the risks of any armed force, whether the rebel or the state one, dictating terms in civilian governance, or the army siding with regression in the future may be removed. In the particular case of Thapa’s failure to appear before the commission, confusion has prevailed, raising concerns over the same old and outdated work culture of those in government, including the security forces, and their disorganised mentality. The confused state of things — such as the defence secretary saying that Thapa had gone to Pokhara with the Prime Minister’s permission and the PM seeking clarification from the defence secretary why Thapa had not appeared before the commission — neither helps the government nor boosts the army’s image in the changed context.