KATHMANDU: Security council of United Nations has renewed the mandate of United Nations Mission in Nepal until 23 January 2010, as it is yet to complete the mandate given to it regarding Nepal’s peace process.

UMMIN is yet to finish the task assigned to it regarding the monitoring and management of arms and armed personnel that will take peace process to its logical conclusion.

Due to the recent political upheavals the peace process has been virtually stalled for the

past many months. Lack of willpower on the part of major political parties and mutual mistrust among them has slowed down the pace of peace process.

Speaking to mediapersons after the extension of its tenure, UNMIN chief Karen Landgren said the political parties should share the blame for the stalemate. She

hoped that party leaders would

rise above their differences and work together pragmatically, through consensus and talks as they had done in the past.

The UCPN-Maoist-led government had asked the United

Nations to extend UNMIN’s

tenure by six months with a promise to complete the integration of Maoist combatants

during that period. However, parties failed on that front.

The special committee on army integration has been defunct since Pushpa Kamal Dahal stepped down as prime minister. PM Madhav Kumar Nepal recently declared to reshuffle the special committee under his leadership but the Maoists, who are now in the opposition have expressed dissatisfaction over the PM’s decision. Maoists want to lead the committee, claiming that their party was a major stakeholder in army integration and the peace process. Unless the special committee functions in an effective manner, integration of the Maoist combatants cannot go ahead smoothly. Nepal has also promised to complete the peace process within six months but his actions don’t match his words.

Security Council had also urged the government and the political parties to ensure early reconstitution of the Special Committee responsible for supervising, integrating and rehabilitating the Maoist combatants, drawing support from its technical committee.

Landgren opined, “Critical political decisions should be taken soon on the number of Maoist army personnel to be integrated in the security forces.”

She added that determining the future of the Maoist combatants was critical for lasting peace.

However, technical committee established under the special committee has made a limited progress. It claimed that it is doing its job but political uncertainty has hit the pace of work.

The recent remarks made by Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala have further complicated the issue of army integration. Koirala said there was no possibility of integrating Maoist combatants in the security organisation, further antagonising the Maoists.UCPN-Maoist chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal, on the other hand, said the peace process was in peril. He said, “Political parties should sit together to

begin peace process afresh.” He urged the political parties to

forge new agreements to move the peace process ahead.

Another major aspect of the peace process is writing constitution on schedule but constitution-drafting process has been stalled due to the increasing tension among the political parties.

The meeting of the constituent assembly has been put off

for an indefinite period, as the thematic committees failed to

present their preliminary draft of constitution. Of the 11 thematic committees formed under the constituent assembly only four have prepared the preliminary concept of constitution.

Thematic committee alone cannot resolve the dispute among the political parties on fundamental issues such as political system, modalities of the federalism, dispute on language and other vital issues. However, big parties have not taken any initiative to find model on the fundamental issues of new constitution acceptable to all.

Recently, Constituent Assembly Chairperson Subas Chandra Nembang called the top leaders of UCPN-Maoist, Nepali Congress and UML to focus on the constitution-writing process. After Nembang’s wake-up call, the political leaders have started talks to iron out the differences. However, there is no sign that the political parties will reach a common understanding in near future.

The much talked-about high-level political commission, which is supposed to aid the

peace process, is yet to be formed. NC President has been talking about it but the PM has not taken any initiative on it.

On its part, UCPN-Maoist wants the leading role in the peace process and constitution-writing process. Recently, Maoist politburo meeting mooted a national unity government under its leadership. But there is very slim possibility of forming a government under the Maoists at present.

Return of the property seized during insurgency is a vital issue that need to be addressed to move the peace process forward but there has not been any progress in that direction. The Maoist-led government had formed a parliamentary committee to work out the return of property but that committee is has been passive. It has not moved beyond collecting information. Moreover, instead of returning the property, the Maoist cadres are on land-grabbing spree.

Then there is the issue of discharging minors from PLA cantonments. Though the process has just begun, the minors have expressed their unwillingness to be discharged from the cantonments.

All these vexed issues need to be tackled to move the peace process forward.