At last, the 31-member ceasefire monitoring committee has received its terms of reference from the government and the Maoists. Now the panel, called the Code of Conduct and National Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (CCNCMC), can start work with a clear-cut jurisdiction and powers. It will look into the recent 25-point code of conduct between the SPA government and the Maoists, and can make suggestions to both the sides for better compliance. The committee will have to work in the true spirit of the 12-point and the later 8-point agreements between the two sides, which will also form a joint team to discuss and implement the committee’s report and iron out complications. It will exist until the constitution to be drawn up by the constituent assembly (CA) comes into force. As a result of the ongoing consultations, the Maoists and the government have written joint letters to the members of the statute-drafting committee to start work. (However, they are reported to have declined to acknowledge them pending induction of more members.) And, after meeting CPN-UML leader Madhav Nepal and NWPP chief Narayan Man Bijuckchhe, Maoist leaders Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai have also conferred with leaders of other constituents of the SPA to build confidence and consensus in order to speed up work on the arrangements necessary to hold the CA polls.

As the faithful enforcement of the ceasefire and the code of conduct during this period lies at the heart of holding the CA elections and the heralding of a new political order based on peace, stability and competitive politics, the committee has a huge role to play in the whole process. It demands a new work ethics and commitment from its members to see that the ceasefire holds and to bring to the notice of both sides any violations of the code of conduct. The government should provide all necessary infrastructure, manpower, money and other support to the committee to begin work without delay. The geographical jurisdiction of the committee spreads throughout the country, and it naturally requires considerable resources to monitor the ceasefire properly. But the committee should not allow work to be hampered by insisting on perks and privileges which may be costly but unnecessary, for example, helicopter services to shuttle members from one place to another.

On its part, the committee should also discharge its duty impartially, without giving anybody reason to question its conclusions, on which depends the confidence-building measures of the two sides. Meanwhile, Deputy PM Amik Sherchan said on Monday, a summit between Maoist and SPA leaders is to be held ‘as soon as possible’ to discuss management of the Maoist army, its weapons and other issues. Frequent consultations between the two sides should be continued to prevent any serious misunderstanding from cropping up. They can’t relax guard believing that certain forces are not at work to weaken the gains of Jana Andolan II and the Maoist-SPA pact.